


Heart of the Beast

by thepilotanon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Additional characters will be added - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bruce Banner is Green, F/M, Family, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Inspired by the Original Comics, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki Lives (Marvel), Meant to Be Considered x Reader, OFC Has No Physical Description/Coloring, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Thor (2011), Reader Is Given a Role To Play, Romance, Slow Burn, Thor is a Good Bro (Marvel), Warnings Will Be Added At Top of Each Chapter, semi-canon compliance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:02:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29360745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepilotanon/pseuds/thepilotanon
Summary: She was lost to him for centuries, only to be found again within the most unlikely of places across the Nine Realms. Despite being the God of Mischief as he is, and his given history in Midgard and the Avengers, he deeply desires to rebuild himself to prove himself worthy of the love he thought he lost so long ago. Through the trial of love, loss and growth, Loki will use whatever power he has to ensure that the love of his life gets to live the life she missed.
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Original Female Character(s), Loki (Marvel)/Reader, Loki/Sigyn (Marvel)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 76





	1. i. cist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: None.

Loki came to the terms that he had missed out on some pretty interesting events in the universe…

Well, for what it was worth, Loki _was_ dead during that time.

On that subject, Loki was dead alongside Heimdall and other citizens of Asgard he recalled having fallen within the Statesman that happened - according to Thor - years ago...and yet they can’t recall being dead. A part of it, Loki thought, was that he wasn’t worthy to see his mother in Valhalla, but it was soon discovered that neither did anyone else. Loki remembers being held by the throat by the Mad Titan; he recalls locking eyes with Thanos, stating the fact that he would never be a god, while struggling to breathe. After that…

Loki woke up with his revived party on a solitude rock. A planet or an asteroid, all of them alive and breathing and confused as to what was happening. Heimdall still held the grip of Hofund in his hand, yet the blade itself was shattered beyond its use, leaving them all stranded and exposed to the empty, dull planet with no clue to what was happening. They collected together, keeping the children and elders in the center for protection by the adults and discussed what to do, what they could do to reach out for help - hopefully, not to be picked up by the Black Order. Patience was going to reward them the most, out of anything else, and so they had to play the waiting game.

And then, just like that, they were found by the odd group that called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy...along with a very _different-looking_ Thor.

Loki knows he could spend days talking about his group’s “recovery” and reuniting with his brother; the story of how Thor met the Guardians of the Galaxy and built Stormbreaker with his new friends, Rocket “Rabbit” (even though Loki tried to explain to him that he was, in fact, a raccoon in Earth’s terms) and Groot, who, in Loki’s opinion, always seem to hold interesting conversations. The whole tale of the Blip, the Time Heist with the Avengers and battling Thanos to restore half of the universe to normalcy, how Thor planned on joining the Guardians and travel throughout the universe, before finding the other half of the Asguardian population on a floating rock…

It still didn’t explain Thor’s “transformation”, but Loki eventually decided to conclude that his brother struggled a lot in his absence, from what Rocket told him.

Either way, this was how Loki found himself being brought to New Asgard and catching up with familiar faces. Thor eventually decided that he would like to stay near his brother, but would hope to join the Guardians for a mission for fun in the near future. The fellow, Peter Quill, seemed more than happy to ditch Thor back on Earth, while everyone else promised to keep him updated on their locations and contacts. Helping his half of the refugees reunite with their families, with the help of Heimdall, Thor, Valkyrie and the Guardians before their departure, and everyone eventually managed to settle to their new home. 

More homes were built for the additional population, Loki found himself his very own humble home: a small two-story, built with stone and wood with all the necessary room he would acquire for his liking, along with plenty of bookshelf space for his new hobby of collecting Midgardian classics and reading material. It was still an adjustment, of course, settling into a new home and figuring out one’s own use to the community.

For Loki, he took on the job of recording and calculating dates and events from Asgard’s old calendar, and then translating it to the Midgardian calendar. Holidays and days of birth and deaths, historical events and scheduled farming and livestock, Loki has opened his own mailing box for his fellow Asgardians to deposit dates for him to translate and transfer to the twelve-month yearbook. With how Earth’s rotation and use of dates and time being so different from Asgard’s, what started off from Loki’s curiosity eventually became some sort of job, once Valkyrie found out one day by digging in his things during a visit. As amazed as she was by Loki’s lack of alcohol stored within his home in comparison to Thor’s, the New King of Asgard actually encouraged Loki to go further with the studies. It took him a while to figure out the numbers and astronomical charts of either Realms, but he eventually managed to figure it out - and thus, he became New Asgard’s official historical bookkeeper.

Of course, knowing Asgardians, Loki had to turn down plenty of requested dates for the official calendar records. ‘ _No, the day you claim yourself to be a true man - whatever that is suppose to mean - does not count for an important holiday. And, no, I do not care for your explanation_ ,’ or ‘ _No one really cares about the date you asked your lover out for the first time. It does not count for an anniversary_ .’ Considering that Asgardian biology works far different from Midgardians, Loki had to eventually accept the complaints of knowing birth dates, not just when their official birthday was. Loki placed the blame on Midgardians’ yearly celebrations being far closer compared to Asgardians’ (being that his people age far differently, it didn’t make sense to add _everyone’s_ birthday on the calendar), he didn’t mind having to make another separate calendar for them to find their birthdays and add it to the “official” calendar at their own dispense...like how the regular Midgardians do it, from what he was told.

Loki was _not_ going to argue with the printers cramming in hundreds upon hundreds of birthdays in every single tiny, tiny boxes.

A knock on his door caught his attention from making his morning tea, yet he didn’t bother to go over and open to whoever was trying to pay a visit - there were only _very few_ people who would have the nerve to knock on his door, and _only one_ who ever bothered to visit him in the early morning.

“ _Brother_! I’ve come bearing gifts, and I believe you will like them!” Thor’s loud, boisterous voice rattled Loki’s kitchen window, yet the God of Mischief only sighed and took his tea mug into his hands once his front door was kicked open.

He managed to turn around just in time to wave his hand, using his magic to gently push his recently polished shoes out of the way when Thor marched in with a paper bang in his arm, before he could scruff them up. “How many times must I ask for you, Brother, to _wait_ until I come to invite you in?” Loki asked, following Thor into the adjoining living room by the small foyer of his home. 

“Yes, but you would rarely actually open the door to me, of course,” Thor casually threw back, looking back to him with a big grin. Despite wearing sweatpants and plain, boring t-shirts, Loki knows that Thor has been working of ridding his belly: a slow process, given that Thor’s appetite and working on quitting his drinking habits. Seeing him wearing a new coat that Loki helped him pick out, he figured he was still feeling in a better mood lately.

“Of course.” Rolling his eyes, Loki sat in the patterned cushion chair that he liked to claim as _his spot_. Gently blowing on top of his brewing tea, Loki watched Thor drop the paper bag onto his coffee table, being careful not to mess with the stack of papers and folders on the side. “What have you brought this time, Thor?”

Thor grinned bigger as he immediately began digging in the bag. “So, since you have not gone out of your way to try Midgard’s wonderful creations of foods and delicacies, I thought I would assist you with some of my favorites!”

Loki raised a brow, looking at his brother with a critical eye before speaking. “Are you certain you’re not trying to escape the restrictions Eir placed on you for your diet?” he asked casually, not missing how Thor’s nose twitched and paused in his ministrations for a split second. “If it is so you do not feel guilty in spoiling yourself with snacks, and going against Eir’s rules, I am more than happy to comply for the time being. However, if Eir were to come to me with questions, you know that I will not hesitate to tell her the truth.”

“Oh, she won’t - I have caught Lady Eir eating a box of Little Debbie cakes the other day and made me promise not to say a word of it. I plan to use this, as they say here, a _cheat week_ ; I have done very good with my routine,” Thor explained, patting his stomach with a snicker. He has indeed made progress in getting back to his old build, Loki will admit. His stomach has deflated immensely, thanks to the training and Valkyrie limiting his alcohol ration.

“Whoever this Little Debbie woman is, I wonder how much trouble Eir goes through to obtain her sweets,” Loki pondered aloud, but not too seriously.

Pulling out a small box, Thor held it out for Loki to read the bold, bulging letters of _Pop-tarts_ with a ridiculous illustration of a rectangular-shaped _thing_ slathered with colorful icing and sprinkles. Despite the lack of response from Loki, Thor beamed with excitement to the point that he bounced his legs on the floor like a child.

“You see, Brother, these were the first things I had eaten when I was exiled here. Darcy - the one with the glasses, you remember her? - she had a much bigger box of these that she let me eat. They are not as filling, despite being a filled pastry, but I believe it is because it is flat.” Thor ripped the top open and pulled out an aluminum package, and Loki frowned at it. “I highly suggest you try it with coffee, because it can be quite dry, but I think the flavor makes up for it.”

“If it is a pastry, why is it flat?” Loki asked with absolute uncertainty, watching Thor ripping the silvery package and pulling one out. “What makes you believe that _I_ would like it?”

“It’s sweet,” Thor shrugged, ripping it in half and already taking a bite of the bigger half while holding out the other. “I know how much you like sweets, and I know you have not indulged in any sweets since coming here and settling. Another thing that is fairly popular to say here, from what Korg and Miek showed me on television, is to _treat yourself_.”

Loki looked between the crumbling disappointment and Thor for a long moment, until Thor began trying to push the Pop-tart half in his face. Taking the piece between two fingers, Loki stared at the glittery piece and feeling his brother leaning further into his personal space… Sighing, Loki resisted holding his nose closed and took a bite of what he assumed to be the crust and filling, trying to make it equal, and chewed slowly. His face remained impassive up until he swallowed, then offered the remaining of his piece back.

“That is utterly disgusting,” Loki coughed and took a large drink of his still-hot tea, all while Thor snickered with genuine amusement before popping Loki’s piece into his mouth. “That will have to be the most disappointing pastry I have ever eaten in my life.”

“I will admit that it tastes much better when it is toasted...or Darcy suggest _freezing_ them,” Thor offered before finishing the package. Loki was mortified to see that the package came with two pieces. “However, when you are starving and need a quick bite in the middle of a desert and been tranquilized by doctors three times, it was a better option than trying to bite into one of those prickly plants or gnawing on those little, scraggly twiggy-things that blow in the wind… What are they called again?”

“Tumbleweeds?”

“Yes, those!” Brushing his fingers against his pants, Thor began digging back in his bag for another hidden treat he brought to share with his brother - before his attention caught to one of the folders. His head tilt curiously, reading the neatly written runes. “Say, isn’t that for this month?”

Loki resisted rolling his eyes, lounging back in his chair. “If you paid attention to your mail from last week, you would know that people expect monthly updates before the month actually arrives.” Gesturing to the folder, Loki took another sip of his tea to try and get the gunk of the Pop-tart out of his molars. “Those there are dates still pending for the official calendar. I plan on having our _dear_ King Valkyrie take a peek and decide if they’re worth for next year’s calendar; dates that were suggested in the inbox and whatnot, but I wasn’t too certain they fit for an Midgardian-esque calendar. I wrote them down on a whim on one of the nights I could not sleep.”

Without asking for permission, Thor used his clean hand to flip the cover off to the first page that showed the diagram of the Asgardian dates and the formula Loki uses to transfer it to Earth’s dates by day and month. Knowing that he wouldn’t find much interest beyond the first page, Loki got up from his chair to go fetch his brother a glass of water to wash down the weird aftertaste the Pop-tart left, so Thor wouldn’t choke on his ridiculous snack.

“Fifty-seven birthdays for this month?” Thor called out incredulously, and Loki shook his head with amusement as he refilled his tea with his free hand. “And twenty of them are within three Earth days of each other?”

“Those have already been mailed out for their own discretion on the calendar. Plenty of those who request their actual birth dates want to include the astronomical alignments of Midgard’s solar system, or what is it called - _zodiacs_.” Loki inwardly cursed at the discovery of Midgard’s trend of astrology, and how many of the younger, female population of Asgardian teens venture to the nearby city to learn more of the planet’s culture and interests. The amount of times Loki had to announce that he was not going to create a class to teach astrology or astronomy to a bunch of teenagers, who seem to think and start to believe that their zodiac defined everything about themselves and their everyday lives. While Loki loved the subject of astronomy and studying the stars and their influence, he had no patience to constantly correct the differences with astrology.

With both hands full, Loki returned to the living room with both cups to find Thor much farther into the folder. Pages deep and cradled in both of his ginormous hands, Loki could tell that Thor was reading the detailed information printed on the paper. Despite it being upside down - and still a draft in progress - Loki could read the header and feel his heart suddenly stop.

“I had no idea that someone would actually request… I mean, with how Father reacted to it and announced to the public,” Thor rambled, catching his brother’s blank stare. He closed the folder neatly and carefully placed it back on top of the pile it came from. “With it coming up tomorrow, however, really makes you realize how long ago it was -”

“It was not requested,” Loki corrected him, venturing further to place the glass of water near Thor on a coaster before resuming his position on his own chair. He refused to meet Thor’s two-colored eyes, instead paid more attention to his steaming tea.

A moment of silence passed before Loki took a breath. “I just thought...I was more _curious_ , really, considering that this planet did partake, when it happened,” he said quietly. “I was actually considering looking into the history around that time, now that I found the date. I remember looking at the map, and I think I’ve found the _general area_ to go explore, but…”

Thor didn’t say a word, letting him take his time to come back to reality and run a hand down his mouth. “It was just an idea, but what use would it be?” he huffed, finally looking up with a sort of aloof expression. “As far as I can recall, there was never an official name or sigil for the villages at the time, were there?”

“Not that I can remember,” Thor responded. “I can go and speak to Heimdall, o-or perhaps, Tyr would know, since he -”

“Don’t bother yourself with it, it’s nothing to fret about.”

“Loki, there is nothing wrong with bringing up the past. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to go _look_ either,” he insisted, seeing Loki’s invisible walls build itself up. “Where we last met with Father, in that hilltop before he passed, how often do we go there and simply...think?”

Loki’s green eyes snapped at Thor and the blond Asgardian sat up straighter. “I know we do not have many _recent_ fond memories of Father, or of how we lost Mother, but you have to recognize how it helps when you remember? It gives us closure, and you are no less worthy to try to mourn for _her_ either, Loki, if you wish.”

“It happened so long ago -!”

“Does not matter,” he interrupted, reaching for another package of Pop-tarts. “I remember how long it took you to come out of your chambers; how long it took for you to go about places, even picking up a book or even open the drapes? All I am saying is that there isn’t anything wrong with wanting to find closure, because she mattered so much to you than you’re willing to admit. You can never be too late for that for yourself.” 

Ripping the package open with a bit more attitude, Thor took a ridiculously huge bite of the pastry to shut himself up. They watched each other while he ate and Loki cradled his tea in his hands, pondering.

“I will consider looking further into the closest location,” Loki finally spoke, “for _next year_. It’s too short notice to prepare anything properly now. She deserves something fitting in her memory, nothing rushed and chaotic.”

Thor nodded slowly. “I can speak to Valkyrie to see if she can arrange transportation to wherever you want to start looking,” he offered. “Or, I can contact someone from the Tower, if you believe it is further away from here. I can easily supply enough money for lodging and food to last.”

“I will assume that you believe you will be accompanying me on this personal odyssey of mine?”

“As if you would ever want to venture anywhere without me. You would be absolutely bored if I do not go along with you.”

Loki felt his lip twitch, but held back his smile. “I suppose you might be right.”

* * *

He had to insist on going along with Thor back to his own little abode that he shared with Korg and Miek (mostly to ensure that he wouldn’t try to leave any Pop-tarts behind for “another taste”, even though Loki insisted that he _did not_ like them). Loki isn’t one to constantly go out of the comfort of his own home so willingly, but the air was crisp and refreshing after sitting while reminiscing and the early planning of a potential road trip with Thor. He doesn’t plan on staying at his brother’s “cave” for too long, immediately coming up with a list of other things he had to take care of back in his own home - list of chores or whatever can excuse him from being offered a beer or a slice of greasy pizza. Thor knew that Loki still prefers to have his space, although they know Korg and Miek have the right intentions to try and include Loki in their multiplayer video game, it was still a struggle to get them to tone it down. Loki supposed coming back from the dead excited them more than Asgardians to make up for lost time. It was nice for the first couple times, of course, but he can only take so much.

“Then, there is the various berry flavors,” Thor rambled on, keeping himself at the same pace at Loki, who really had no choice but to listen. “Cherry flavor, which I had you try. Then, there is strawberry and blueberry - which leaves me with a question: why are Midgardian blueberries called blueberries...when they’re not actually blue? At least, it’s not a true blue coloring, but then it’s purplish when mashed, and Bruce once sent me a picture of a peeled blueberry and it was green -”

“Either way, for a Pop-tart, it will taste like disappointment to me,” Loki eventually said, stopping Thor in his tracks from running into a group of children chasing a magnetic ball by holding the back of his coat.

Thor waved to the familiar neighborhood kids with an amused grin. “I still think you will like them better toasted - or sample as many flavors, until we find one you like. We shall get you to embrace the Midgard delicacies...somehow.”

“I am quite content with my own baking, thank you. I do not need anything else with my busy schedule.”

“What will you do, after finishing the calendars?” Thor asked as they resumed their walk.

“Valkyrie and some elders have suggested I contribute to rewriting our history books.” When Thor gave him a rather impressed look, Loki brushed him off with a eye roll. “It is not like that. I’ve been told that the mortals are very interested in investing textbooks to educate children about our influence on their history and mythology. As far as I am concern, it’s still being decided, considering that Valkyrie would like to keep respect for what Midgard had written and believed in for centuries, but satisfying many scholar’s curiosities is also in the mix.”

“I wonder if you will be involved in the decision. What would you think you would want do to?” Thor asked with a genuine grin. When Loki made a noncommittal sound in response, Thor’s grin grew to be more amused. “You have read what Norse Mythology have written about _us_ , haven’t you?”

“Of course I have,” Loki responded casually. “Haven’t you read the story of your two beloved goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnóstr, who would pull your chariot, and how you would slaughter them for your own consumption every night and resurrect them with Mjölnir, all just to do the same thing the next day?”

Thor immediately went pale and stared back at him. “Wait, what?”

“Oh, and the instance when you willingly killed your two goats for a poor, poor Midgardian family and, because the son managed to suck the marrow out of the bone of one of them, you enslaved the boy and his sister.” Passing the short dry stone, Loki willingly walked ahead of his brother and towards his front door. “Or, my personal favorite, when you disguised as a woman in order to seduce a giant who stole your dear, dear hammer.”

“I killed my pet goats and ate them every night, resurrected them, and did it _all over again_?” Thor cried out, stomping after him in order to open the door. “Tell me this is another joke of yours, Brother! Where did you even see that?”

“Where have _you_ been learning of their mythology?” Loki snapped back with a bored sigh.

“The library in town has one with very colorful illustrations, right next to where are those cute little furniture -”

“The _children’s_ book section? Well, that explains a lot.”

“You do not -!”

“Ah, Thor! You’re finally back,” Korg cried out with a wave of innocent excitement that definitely matched his personality. Once noticing Loki, Korg smiled bigger and waved. “Hey man, how have you been? Would you like a beer?”

Deciding to ignore Thor’s obvious attempt to nonverbally tell Korg not to mention the beer, Loki shook his head. Preparing himself to speak, Loki was interrupted when Korg straightened, remembering something. “Oh, there is a young man on our TV and he is insisting to speak to you, Thor. Something about how he is speaking for Bruce? Remember him?”

Loki stole a glance to Thor, who looked equally confused about the announcement. Korg stepped aside to give them both space to slide through and followed after them. “Yeah, he was the Grandmaster’s Champion - and you called him the Hulk, too. The young man on the TV interrupted our game, but it was alright; he’s very polite and Miek seems to like him a lot.”

Reaching the living room, Loki found the insectoid on the couch, making the usual critter noise she does when its Taco Tuesday in Thor’s household. On the TV screen, sure enough, Peter Parker was babbling about how cool it was to get to speak to an alien creature (“ _but I don’t mean to sound rude, but you’re so cool_!”) while waiting for Thor to arrive, seeming to take notes. Miek seemed to eat up the attention, regardless, and made a shrill sound of welcome to Thor and Loki as they entered the room. Once in line of sight of the camera attached to the flatscreen, Peter caught himself and dropped his pen.

“Mr. Thor, hi! A-and Mr. Loki! Wow, that’s even better.” Peter cleared his throat and tried to keep his laptop still from shaking the desk in his excitement. “Uh, this is great! I’m here with Dr. Banner, actually, and I’m waiting for him to come back from - he asked me to call either of you, actually, but he only had Mr. Thor’s network account on his list. I’m so sorry, Mr. Loki. Mr. Korg told me that Mr. Thor was out to spend the day with you, but I had no way to reach out to you and Dr. Banner asked me to stay here and wait until I managed to connect with -!”

“I do not have an email, internet connection or cellular devices to my name. Not as of right now, at least,” Loki said in attempt to calm Peter and focus better.

“ _Little Spiderling_!” Thor greeted loudly, getting too close to the camera on the TV to get closer to the young man waving back. Loki had to tug Thor by his sleeve and get him to sit on his couch once Korg scooped Miek out of the way. “Bruce was telling me a while back that he was taking you as an apprentice!”

“Yeah, as an intern. It’s really cool - oh, but that’s not why I’m calling, although it’s really nice to speak to you again, Mr. Thor! _And_ Mr. Loki!” Peter settled and looked offscreen, seeming to expect someone. Loki saw the background to be a blank, white wall with no further decorations, nor anyone else in the same room as him. To him, it resembled a sort of bare office or possibly a motel. “Dr. Banner and I were contacted by Dr. Selvig a few days back, because his team found something on one of his reading machines for a project on the magnetosphere. So, Dr. Banner brought along one of his own readers and scanners, to help out and see what he could pick up, and he found -”

“Did you get ahold of him?” a familiar voice startled Peter, and a green face with glasses approached behind the young man, placing an assuring hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry to hack into your TV like this, guys, but this is something pretty major and I wanted to get ahold of someone familiar with what we found. Erik isn’t able to come to talk at the moment, but he agreed with me to try and contact you.”

“As young Peter Parker was _trying_ to tell us,” Thor said with furrowed brows. “What’s the matter, old friend?”

Bruce seemed to catch on and nodded. “Okay, Peter, thank you for helping out. Why don’t you go take a break,” he urged gently, and Peter only mutely nodded and sprang from his chair and out of sight. Once Bruce managed to situate himself in front of the laptop, he greeted both of them with a wave. “So, Erik called me and all that, telling me about his readings on the patterns of aurora borealis. His team was investigating unusual readings picked up this past week. To put it short: Erik and his team found an irregular pattern here in Norway that isn’t suppose to happen because it’s too far south of the pole, and he found the readings match with when he, uh...was studying the Tesseract a long way back.”

Loki’s frown deepened and Thor shifted in his spot. “But, that is not possible, is it?” Thor asked. “Both you and Erik concluded that any Infinity Stone reading can never match with anything else on Earth, even if someone were to _try_. The Tesseract is no more.”

“The only Infinity Stone available, as far as anyone would know, is Stephen Strange in the guardianship Time Stone,” Loki added, crossing his arms. “ _You_ and Steve Rogers made sure of that.”

“I’m aware of that, but with Erik’s readings and the ones from my own, they match _identically_ with what he recorded in 2012. But,” Bruce announced with a raised finger, “that’s not all. We managed to find the pinpoint location of where the pattern is giving off. It took some scouting on foot, but we had a portable reader handy.”

On the TV screen, Bruce brought up the map of Norway and a red pin in the northern section in the country on the side of him. “We are approximately twenty hours away from where New Asgard is,” he explained carefully, seeming to look for another image to pull up next. “In the mountains, we managed to set up a lab in the nearest village, and we found this.”

A new image popped up over the map of Norway, showing what looked to be a mountainous terrain; patches of snow and grass, a whole lot of rock - and a large, out-of-place bright blue structure on top of a slab of rock. Compared to the rest of the natural scenery, the blue mineral stuck out like a sore thumb, and certainly caught Loki and Thor’s attention in a rather negative way.

“That is a pretty-looking rock!” Korg said for added commentary, making both Thor and Loki to turn to see him in the doorway of the kitchen, peeking over with Miek in his arms. “...Sorry.”

“What _is_ that, Bruce?” Thor asked, turning back to the TV.

“That certainly _can not_ be an Infinity Stone,” Loki argued. “We have never dealt with anything related to the Infinity Stone that big...minus _him_.” It wasn’t hard to see Thor shoot him a dark glare from the corner of his eye. “But, that is beside the point.”

“It’s actually not that big, Loki, but I digress with _my comparison_ at this point,” Bruce tried in attempt to be humorous with the two brothers. “Even better, upon closer inspection, there’s more to it.” The next image he brought up was a picture of the blue stone taken from above, and he bit the corner of his lip as he focused with his mouse. “And, when you edit the image a little bit darker, you can see _this_.”

The image darkened from Bruce’s editing and, slowly, an outline of a mass came into sight from inside the stone. Once the image was dark enough without blackening the whole picture, an obvious, blurry outline of an extended arm and legs protruding from the mass.

Sitting back in his seat, Bruce exhaled. “What do you guys see?”

“There is a body inside the stone - like one of those encased bodies in ice.” Thor leaned forward on his knees and Loki tilt his head. “None of the Infinity Stones have been known to do that.”

“Nor any known tool that I’ve seen - besides the Casket of Winters would be closest,” Loki mumbled thoughtfully. “Even then, the Casket could _never_ freeze anyone so clean cut like that. That certainly is something unusual.”

“The way its laid out on the stone shows that its been there a long time - it’s practically embedded with the plants and shows its been in the elements. But that’s not the only reason why I’m calling you guys,” Bruce said distractedly. “Peter has been a great help with tinkering with one of my old programs I gave him, and we were able to get a better image _inside_ the stone and to the body - which is why I thought this might be best to contact you. Gimme one second and -!”

The picture took over the whole screen, illuminating the living room with a blue light, and the outline of the body showed more detail of what was hidden underneath the harsh, blurry coverage of the stone. The legs were shown to be what looks to be leathered boots with fur trimming, wrapped with braided threads to keep it all together. The body itself was covered with a thick cloak, morphing it to be difficult what the body shape could be, and the hood was covering the head and matching fur from the boots decorated the trim. The body, by looking from above, seemed to be laying belly-down on the slab of rock, or possibly twisted in some kind of resting position. The outstretched arm, however, was the only exposure to skin by the hand, as the body wore a sleeve and jewelry around the wrist…

With Asgard’s royal insignia sewn into the clothing and cloak in shimmering gold thread.

Loki could hear Bruce exhale from his end, his eyes staring in disbelief at the familiar torc bracelet wrapped around the wrist. “And the biggest thing that we’ve found out just an hour ago...there’s a heartbeat coming from the readings,” he revealed. “Whoever it is under there, they’re still alive.”

Thor shot out of his spot from the couch, startling Korg and Miek, yet Loki was caught with his green eyes to the big screen. “Korg, I will need to borrow your cellphone,” he said with a strong volume. “I need to contact Valkyrie and arrange transport immediately.”

Voices tuned out and the bracelet seemed to be the only thing Loki could focus on. Thor was speaking loud and orderly, Korg was offering a thing or two and Bruce’s voice still came from the surround-sound speakers, still hidden behind the image. Reality seemed to soak in and melt away at the same time as he continued to stare at the frozen image, and a memory from so long ago crept to whisper into his ear. He could recognize it, of course, being his own, and the distant memory of a smile he tried years to forget, but always came back in his dreams on good nights. A bittersweet moment in his past, yet could still feel as though it happened yesterday and it made Loki’s chest twist to the point he thought his heart was going to burst.

_“Assure me that you will wear this, and come back home soon.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read! Any comment or feedback is always appreciated.


	2. ii. reconciliation

Loki guessed it was considered a blessing that Asgardians didn’t require the same amount of sleep as Midgardians, nor the fact that they really follow the rule of speed limits.

‘ _More for the mortal Midgardians, not really for the wildlife attempting to cross the roads_ ,’ he corrected himself, watching another bug splat against the windshield with disgust. ‘ _Thankfully, it has not been anything bigger…_ ’

The fellow Asgardian Valkyrie assigned to drive Thor and Loki was one of the very few who was capable of obtaining a driver’s license. Although, according to plenty of human complaints mailed to New Asgard, there is plenty of questionable events regarding how fast they go on the open roads - not that it was much of a mystery. Cars go faster than most of the Einherjar horses, and those who are able to be allowed to drive such vehicles have to battle the temptation of having a lead foot. Despite that, once hearing Thor’s frantic urgency to make it up north, Valkyrie managed to make a few calls to neighboring cities to find a pathway, claiming it was a diplomatic immunity and an emergency on behalf of the safety of the planet.

No one argued with her.

By the time Thor managed to pack a duffle and they set off onto the road, it was early enough to ensure Bruce that they will arrive by the next morning of their conversation. Looking out the window now, the skies were morphing the colors of dawn in a gentle way that nearly reminded Loki of the sunrise he would see back in Asgard, but still missing the view of the beaches and gardens and stars. Drowning out the noises of the radio, Loki continued to keep to himself in the backseat of the truck while Thor worked on figuring out Korg’s cellphone in the passenger seat, chatting away with the driver he was friendly with - apparently pub buddies. Since seeing the picture on the flatscreen TV in Thor’s home, Loki’s thoughts have remained elsewhere; calculating, remembering, theorizing…he was grateful that his brother wasn’t troubling him for the time being.

However, Thor had to call Bruce four times for the exact location beyond the village, seeing that he and the driver were confused by the directions. By the time they managed to find the correct road that would lead them to the address, it was well into the late afternoon. They managed to figure it out, but only once Peter Parker stood outside the supposed destination spot and waved them down (managing to jump out of the way when the driver drifted and nearly hit the other parked vans). The young man seemed more happy in comparison to the other suited agents to see Thor practically jump out of the truck and shout his greeting, duffle bag in one hand and cellphone in the other.

_‘I wonder why,’_ Loki thought to himself sarcastically, thanking the driver while he helped himself out of the backseat. The truck didn’t wait another moment before driving off, possibly to a nearby pub in the village a ways back.

“Brother, I must remind you that the King will request a call for when we are ready to return,” Loki said whilst Thor and Peter conversed, rather animated and boisterous. “And, perhaps, remind you of the agreement we’ve made, way back when we were discussing me coming to live on Earth?”

Turning around, Thor and Peter froze at the sight of Loki with his hands up and held at gunpoint. Lasers aimed at his black suit and along his face, Loki stared at his brother with a raised brow as Thor pushed his bag and phone into Peter’s hands (who struggled to hold up the massive bag) and hurried to the crowd of agents surrounding him.

“ _Hey, hey, hey_! Stand down, all of you!” Thor shouted, pushing past the ring and getting between the line of fire and Loki, who remained still. “He’s with me. As part of the deal made between New Asgard and United Nations - I’m his chaperone!”

“When it comes to an extra-terrestrial and possible relation to the Infinity Stones, you can’t really blame us for taking extra precautions.” A familiar voice caught their attention, and Thor and Loki saw Nick Fury approach the crowd in the dirt parking lot with a sheepish Bruce Banner and Erik Selvig following close behind. “Especially when we find out that two Asgardians are coming to stick their nose in, and one of them is _notorious_ for spreading chaos and destruction on our planet in such a short time that it’s written in our records!”

“You know the deal, Fury,” Thor insisted, and Nick Fury eventually waved half the dozen or so agents to lower their weapons. The armed soldiers kept their guns raised and aimed directly at Loki from various locations, although the dressed agents obeyed willingly. “The deal was that, if Loki were to ever leave the boundary lines of New Asgard, he had to have a chaperone of either myself, the King, or an official member of the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. He’s here on behalf of King Valkyrie at the request of -”

“At the request of Bruce Banner, in order to assist Dr. Selvig. Yeah, no need to go fancy on the details,” Fury waved off. “However, even though this project is independent from S.H.I.E.L.D., once it was discovered the connections from years back, that line has been crossed for both S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. You can’t blame ‘em for being cautious.”

“If it’s any comfort,” Loki spoke directly to Fury, his head tilting around Thor’s big frame, “I am willing to comply to whatever precaution you plan to stick me in, so long as we can be of help. An indestructible cell of your kind’s making, perhaps? Or one of your special boxes.”

Fury responded, hands at his sides, “See, I don’t like it when you talk like that, because I still don’t trust you. Remember the last time I put you in a box?”

Loki shrugged, but said nothing more.

“Look, Loki is not the man you saw him way back. I can vouch that he doesn’t mean any harm to anyone,” Bruce interjected, waving down the rest of the armed soldiers. “I mean, he _does_ have the means to harm anyone who crosses him, but it’s more when he’s threatened...like, right now. But he won’t kill anyone! Not anymore... _usually_!”

“I deeply appreciate the input, Bruce,” Loki whispered, “but I do not think it is helping much.”

“Regardless of what’s helping or what is going to make anyone comfortable, there is a universal agreement that there is a connection between the anomaly and the Asgardian royal family.” Erik grasped Fury’s shoulder, getting him to turn around for his full attention. “They’re here, we can not waste any more time with it behaving the way it is.”

The tablet he held in his hands lit up, catching Erik’s attention and he immediately turned around and started walking back. “I’ve spent too long out here now. Come along, boys, and we will fill you in on the way to the lab.”

Loki knew to expect Thor to grab him and pull him along, passing the guards and towards the makeshift “lab” that looked to originally be some sort of old factory miles away from the nearest village. Peter scrambled to keep up at Bruce’s side, who willingly took the duffle bag and explained how the building is owned by S.H.I.E.L.D., and has been renovated in the guise of a private property. The inside was familiar to Loki in their aesthetic; metal walls, automatic sliding doors to various glass rooms and labs, trucks parked by the garage door and dressed agents moving about accordingly with plenty of different tools and screens popping up in random places. LED lights hang overhead and boxes of different equipment being carried and stacked out of the way, but within reach whenever necessary. Around them, Loki counted a rather healthy amount of armed soldiers in comparison to agents and scientists, but all seem to be working together with what needed to be done.

As if on cue, everyone turned their heads at the two new arrivals, and sprung into action. Soldiers raised and aimed their weapons directly at Loki, who gracefully tuned them out and stayed right by his brother’s side, as per the agreement. Mortals in lab coats shielding their holographic screens and tablets so that he couldn't see them, some squirrely lesser ranked agents began pushing the boxes further away or out of obvious sight. Bruce sighed, apologizing under his breath about their behavior - and apologized _again_ for the soldiers stalking after them.

Nick Fury made it no secret as he directed orders for Selvig and Banner’s lab to get an upgrade in “extra security”, but Loki didn’t mind it once he watched Erik use a keycard to a closed door. He could see from his peripheral vision how Fury marched away as half of the agents who follows turned to guard the door, and the other half kept their bodies facing the team entering the room - facing Loki’s back.

“This our lab,” Bruce announced to the two. “It’s probably the most closed off and open space at the same time, but no one else is really allowed inside without a keycard.”

The lab consisted of two levels morphed together, the upper of various whiteboards and tables filled with books, notes, empty coffee cups and wrappers with the lower holding the center computer that pretty much lit the whole room itself. Projected screens showed images of the blue rock from all angles - cameras recording live, Loki noticed, when a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent walked in the corner - still in the same place as it was before. However, looking closer, he saw the rocky terrain and the patches of grass disturbed and crumbled. This immediately caught both Thor and Loki’s attention, having them take the few steps down to get a closer look at the screen to see the stone unchanged, but everything else seemed to be damaged.

“I tried to tell them to not disturb the location, to let you guys take a look first,” Bruce said as he joined them all while Peter jumped over the railing to return the cellphone to Thor, “but, I guess S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. have been a little trigger happy.”

“And?” Thor asked, crossing his arms after pocketing the phone. “What came of it?”

“Any firearm reflects off of it. Any explosives, including grenades, tiny bombs, or borderline illegal without proper papers fireworks don’t even scratch the surface of it. Someone owes a construction buddy a new jackhammer and seven or so drills…”

“Oh! Someone actually tried to use a chisel and hammer!” Peter added. “And some rocks, too. Those also broke.”

“A lot of things broke, young man,” Erik mumbled, tapping away on his tablet.

A sudden clutter took the Asgardians by surprise from the screen, seeing another familiar face. Dark, loosely curled hair and brightly painted lips and a cozy-knitted sweater with a matching hat; Darcy Lewis dropped her thick textbook and notes to the floor as she pointed directly at the two. “You’re here! _Oh, my God_! I missed you so much!” she shouted excitedly. She ran to the opening break and jumped, and Thor easily caught her without any trouble and twirled before setting her to her feet. “Look at you! Ah! I have _so much_ to tell you about everything from last time you were around.”

Thor grinned and placed his hands on Darcy’s shoulders. “I’ve missed you, too, Darcy. You look well and healthy,” he commented, making her fluff her hair in a sort of preening attitude.

“And you look...a lot better than the pictures I’ve seen of you recently!” she grinned. “Have you been taking yoga? Or using weights?”

Watching his brother try to accept the compliment with a silent chuckle and shrug, Loki sighed and caught Darcy’s attention. “And I wasn’t expecting _you_ to be here, too, stranger!” she greeted him with her hands clasps together, but not at all touching him. Loki nodded in acknowledgement, then looked back to the screens. “So you’ve seen pictures of our new friend, Ötzi?”

Loki’s eyes narrowed and turned to look at her. “ _Who_?”

“That’s what I’m calling them, at the moment. Him or her, I think it’s kinda cute. You’ve heard of _Ötzi the Iceman_ , right? One of the best preserved bodies in Earth’s history, had a whole dispute on who owned his body and - you know what, it’s fine,” Darcy waved it off. “So, anyway, we’ve been keeping an eye our sleeping buddy and there’s nothing majorly new to report that’s out of the ordinary - especially from all the noises from the explosions. But, we plan on trying out some new tactics later, once Miss Cranky Butt finishes with her notes.”

“How many times have I told you to not call me that, Darcy,” another female voice echoed in the room, and Loki watched in time as Jane Foster stepped from around the corner of the wall and immediately make eye contact with Thor. “I’ve told you that I’m not...cranky…”

Loki could feel the tension building off his brother, stealing a glance to see him swallow thickly and readjust his stance, trying to play it off casual when it wasn’t. Of all the times Loki had to sit beside Thor when he cried into his beer and some type of treat called Oreos over his ex when asked about who else passed in the Snap, he knew that Jane was a difficult topic. Once everyone was revived and Thor returned to settle on Earth, he attempted to reach out to her - for what, Thor said he wasn’t expecting them to reconcile or anything, but the rejection to at least let him know how she was doing still hurt. Loki always knew Thor was emotional in the best and worst ways possible, but knowing how much he truly cared and loved Jane was something he could understand more than he was willing to admit.

Jane Foster was dressed in a sweater and jeans to accommodate the slightly chilly weather in the north, similar to Darcy’s attire but with a deep, rich red color knitted into her top. Her hair was cut short, but it still suit her as a professional genius, yet feminine in her personality. In her hands was a tablet similar to Erik’s, which she promptly turned off by using the side button as she stared, her face trying to be stoic as possible, but Loki could tell she was just as surprised to see Thor as he was to see her.

“Erik,” Jane started, her eyes never leaving Thor, “what...what’s going on here?”

“Before you start, Jane, Dr. Banner knew how to get in contact with Thor and I found it to be a quicker than having to wait longer than necessary for you to get a call through to your resources,” Erik said, spreading his arms out with an obvious annoyance. Jane’s gaped at him, and Loki felt like she was ready to start a verbal confrontation with the older man.

“But I got a hold of -!”

“Jane, they were closer and were able to get here first. We can argue about this later. Darcy? Show them the pictures” Immediately shutting Jane down from arguing any further, he turned the tension to more serious matters.

Darcy seemed happy to oblige, going over to one of the holographic computers and bringing up what looked to be a monitor of sorts with a simply flip of her finger. One line had a steady, smooth beat and another was more rapid in between with more energy. Loki sensed Thor turning his attention to Darcy’s screen, leaving Jane to move about freely. “Heart rate is still the same, but the readings are still stretching outward.”

“Ah, as I’ve mentioned before to you guys, the readings of the aurora borealis stretching too far south; we’ve found that whatever the stone is or, whoever is inside it, is projecting and manipulating their own sort of lights that's not naturally made. This was how we were able to pick up the reading similar to the Tesseract,” Bruce carried on, gesturing to Darcy to bring up a new screen of two videos of the northern lights on pause. “This was taken approximately four hours ago.”

“The cool thing about the lights here is that they don’t spread out, like regular auroras,” Peter chimed in excitedly, coming up to Darcy’s screen and playing the first video of typical shades of green flowing through the sky in the arctic. “With the one from the blue stone, it goes _up_!” Playing the next video right beside the arctic one, it was possibly taken from the roof of the factory. Ribbons of blues and greens flowed upward in the night, disappearing into the dark sky.

“Peter came up with the idea to look into NASA’s satellites, to see what they can probably see, and it turns out Ötzi can reach space.” Darcy swiped the screen away to still images from space, and the same blue-green lights were visible. “We couldn’t figure out what exactly it was doing, but then Jane connected the dots with Peter’s notes and her constellation charts -”

“And we managed to see that they were trying to reach out towards the constellations that would lead to Asgard,” Jane finally spoke professionally, right behind Thor and Loki with her back turned to them as she dug through the various items on one of the tables. “Whatever or whoever is making this irregular pattern, we hypothesize that they are trying to send some kind of signal, or trying to connect to someone from Asgard.”

“That would be impossible,” Thor answered, stroking his beard in deep thought. “Heimdall would have sensed something, looking to Earth or sensing something from the Bifrost Bridge, but I don’t recall him ever mentioning anything like this.” Looking to his brother, Thor saw Loki stare at the screen of the unusual lights. “Do you have any idea what this could mean, Brother?”

Loki took a moment to collect his thoughts, not wanting anyone to sense something was off about him. He made it seem like he was thinking. “Not necessarily, but there could be a possibility,” he answered. “Any spell or incantation to reach from Midgard all the way to Asgard that is not the Bifrost is nearly impossible, unless it was someone with immense power.”

“But could it be a spell?” Bruce pressed.

“I can recall some spells that would send telepathic messages from one person to another, but any of those would require a magical object to make it strong enough to make it jump from one planet to another.” Loki looked away from the screen, his eyes seeming to slowly stare off to nowhere. “And not many of those types of spells are known to just anyone…”

Thor and Bruce noticed Loki’s gaze. Stealing a glance to each other, Bruce cleared his throat and asked Darcy if he could help him find a specific file on his computer of his readings. Darcy graciously hopped out of her seat and followed him up the steps and to his little corner while Thor grasped Loki by the shoulders and pulled him to the other side of the circle, away from everyone else. The holograph screen still showed Darcy’s screen, where she closed off the videos and left it back to the live stream, and Loki watched the mute stone with furrowed brows while Thor quietly tried to steer his attention away.

“What are you thinking, Loki.” Thor’s tone was more flat to the point that it didn’t sound like a question - more authoritative. Loki’s lip twitched a bit into an ironic smirk at how his brother still had it in him to try and be intimidating to him. But, once Loki saw Thor’s face, he saw genuine concern and it made him drop his smirk.

“I was thinking...the possibility, with how the dates are aligning themselves and the images we’ve seen. They wear a...our insignia,” he began quietly, trying to piece his words carefully without giving too much away of the all-too-familiar bracelet, “I have a suspicion. A _hunch_ , if you will.”

It took only a moment for Thor to catch on, and he had to cross his arms. “You don’t think… Loki, you don’t think it could be _her_ , can you?”

“Why not?”

“She is _dead_ , Loki,” Thor whispered to him. “Heimdall could never find her, remember? She has been gone for centuries; her mother said so herself when she came back and then she - and how they searched before they closed off -”

“And,” Loki spoke lowly, “do you remember who said all of that?”

Taking a breath, Thor gripped Loki’s shoulders tightly. “Listen to me, Brother. I know Father lied to the both of us, but you know how much he adored her. He could never come up with such a thing, knowing how much she meant to _everyone_. And we were there when her mother said so, before Father even thought of going back to see for himself when Heimdall couldn’t.”

“I will not accuse Father so sudden, even if it _is_ the most likely the truth,” Loki noted to him with narrowed eyes. “Whether he did or didn’t, you must remember that the whole event was just as mysterious and left any scholar back in Asgard scratching their heads. All I am doing is going by the evidence shown, and I do recall a spell that is similar to the lights that they have recorded. A distress signal-type of spell, but it would require the caster to be fully conscious and mobile.”

“And the stone?”

Loki sighed, shutting his eyes pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don't know. Nothing comes to mind. However, if Erik Selvig and Bruce are collecting data that matches to what the Tesseract produced, one can only imagine _anything_ at this point.” When he opened his eyes again, he gave Thor a stern look. Loki knew that Thor was starting to tell the difference between his scheming tone and serious one. “If it is any relation to the Infinity Stones, we will have to use as much caution necessary to ensure nothing happens, Brother. We don’t need history repeating itself in any way.”

Thor kept a firm look on his face and Loki swallowed. “And, if I happen to be right - that it is her - you can only imagine what she may be capable of once she wakes,” he added. “And, if you have already forgotten that the people here are well armed and, as Bruce has said, a _little_ trigger happy.”

Exhaling, Thor released his shoulders. “Then what shall we do?”

“We do not discuss it to anyone, minus ourselves and Bruce. Not to speak ill of your old flame, while I do appreciate her independence, I believe we both know that she will run off and do whatever she pleases and attract attention.” Loki stole a glance, seeing Jane speaking to Peter about their various tools that needed to be laid out on the table. “First, we should get close as possible to the stone for closer inspection. I can attempt to conjure something to run a diagnostic to find out what exactly that mineral is, if none of the Midgardian technology can identify it, let alone penetrate it.”

Thor nodded and straightened himself as he and Loki left their little secret meeting spot and to the rest of the research team conversing amongst themselves. Peter was packing Jane’s field backpack with empty jars and gadgets when Darcy held out a stethoscope.

Jane looked between Darcy and the medical tool in her outstretched hand. “What’s that for?” she asked, seeming to ignore Thor’s approach - but Loki noticed how her shoulder suddenly tensed as he passed by. “Where did you even get this, Darcy?”

“I found it in one of the drawers at the nursing station during my break,” she explained casually. “Before you freak, I asked if I could borrow it. I thought we could use it for Ötzi tonight.”

“I don’t…”

“I thought that, since it looks like our most advanced technology can’t get much of anything besides the readings and heartbeat, why not go elementary school and see if we can hear from inside?” Darcy suggested with a raised brow.

“It’s stone. It’s not hallow.”

“I bet you chocolate that it is!” Darcy sang, trying to lighten Jane’s attitude. When it didn’t seem to work, the brunette sighs and then turned to the young intern. “Hey, Peter, what’s your wager?”

Peter offered a smile and played along. “I think it’s going to be hollow,” he agreed.

“If we’re right, I’ll buy you a chocolate bar with Jane’s money,” Darcy promised, handing him the stethoscope to pack away and he did so willingly.

The door to the lab slid open to reveal Fury and a scientist, a young man with a beanie hat on and fingerless gloves to fight the cold. The scientist looked up from his phone to see everyone look his way; noticing Thor and Loki’s rather new and intimidating appearance, he swallowed thickly and offered a smile. “Dr. Foster, Dr. Lewis, we’re ready for you to head over to the field,” he said directly to the two women. “Dr. Banner, Dr. Kirby is ready to look over your files on the digital visuals of the lights taken last night, whenever you’re available.”

“Allow us to join Dr. Foster and Dr. Lewis to the sight,” Thor requested directly to the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist, ignoring how Jane immediately snapped her head his way. “I believe this is of Asgardian origin, and we’re ready to assist and help in any way possible.”

“That won’t be doable, Thor,” Fury interjected, stepping into the lab with slow steps, purposely standing between the only entrance and exit. “Because you decided to bring a plus one, who also happens to be on the planet’s shit list, you are both hereby confined in this lab where we can keep an eye on him.”

“Then, let me come along,” Thor insisted. “By the agreement, Bruce also is considered a chaperone, and I’m certain he can remain here with Loki and I -”

“Let me correct myself,” Fury said with a raised hand. “Because _you_ decided to bring a plus one, who happens to be on _my_ personal shit list, you also do not have my permission to go out and check out the rock. Until I decide that _this_ little weasel,” he pointed a finger directly at Loki, who remained still and silent, “can behave, you’re both to stay in here and keep your distance. If I decide that your assistance is needed, then I’ll consider it.”

Thor huffed, getting worked up. Bruce approached and came over to rest a hand on Thor’s shoulder. “Surely you can’t be serious,” he hissed. “There is something - diplomatic immunity, or some universal overpower, after everything we’ve done for this planet that is now a home we share. We both want to help with whatever this might be.”

“Then, perhaps you could tell us what you know from what you can see from our surveillance?” Fury offered, sizing up to Thor with his hands at his sides. “Any idea who our frozen pal could be inside that rock, since they’re wearing your seal?”

Loki felt his whole body freeze at that moment, staring at the back of his brother’s head and praying that he wouldn’t give in and reveal Loki’s theory. He watched Fury look between him and Thor, crossing his arms, as if seeing who will break or give off any clues of deception first. 

Thor only sighed. “No, we have no idea who it could be. However, a closer inspection could offer clues for us to decipher if it’s one of our own kind.”

“Then, stay in here, play nice and I will be sure to call for you if we are in _dire need_ of your help.” With that, Fury waved to Jane to hurry up and called Bruce to follow and then left the lab completely. It was known that Fury wasn’t famous for being discreet with his plans, as it was quite obvious of the four armed soldiers still standing by the door, and Loki somewhat wondered if it was an ego boost for them that he could see them. His eyes watched Fury disappear all while the young scientist stayed behind to keep the door open for Jane and Darcy.

Jane halt in her steps, slowly turning around to face Thor and Loki. Staring directly at Thor for a long moment, trying to find the right words to say, she eventually sighed and nod towards Bruce. “Bruce can set you guys up with an earpiece, where we can discuss back and forth. If you guys see anything in particular that you want Darcy and I to do in your place, press it and it will come to my channel,” she said, patting her side where a little box was clipped to her side and then gestured to her own earpiece already in her ear. “Darcy is synced up, too, so you should be able to get ahold of one of us, and there is audio to the live stream as well. Peter will get that for you.”

Jane and Darcy left with the scientist, and Bruce gave Thor the said earpiece and explained where the button was to connect to Jane’s channel while Peter jumped to the center computer to turn on the audio for them. Loki turned his attentions to Peter Parker, requesting that he show him how to move the camera angles, if needed.

“It’s really easy,” Peter answered with a half-grin, being more than happy to help. “I gotta be quick, because I need to go with Dr. Jane, but you pretty much use this little keypad to turn and move the cameras and then the numbers for a different camera angled to it. Does that make sense?”

Loki watched intently, nodding and Peter bounced a bit with pride at his little tutorial before going off to follow Bruce to leave the lab and catch up with Jane and Darcy. Icy green eyes flickered to the table for a brief moment. “Peter Parker, don’t forget Dr. Foster’s tools that she needs,” he supplied to the young man, who flinched and hurried back to grab the backpack he was packing earlier.

“Thanks, Mr. Loki!”

Bruce let Peter dash out of the lab, turning once more to the Asgardians and Erik Selvig, who will remain behind. “I’ll keep trying to convince Fury to ease up for you guys. I’m sorry that it had to turn out this way,” he said softly, giving the two brothers a half shrug. “I’ll be back shortly, but Peter knows to keep you guys updated as much as possible for me.”

With the lab door sliding closed, the Asgardians looked to each other as Thor fiddled to fit the earbud in properly as Loki sought to find the best and closest view of the rock.

* * *

“I’m not talking about it, Darcy.”

“Oh, _come on_! You would have had to have known Erik would ask Bruce to call. Who else could get here as faster because they’re practically in the same country as us!” Darcy groaned as she stomped faster to keep up with Jane’s quick pace through the rocky trail. Peter wasn’t far behind as other agents and scientists went back and forth between the factory and the rock, stage lights keeping the way lit as the sun had set into night, saying hi to whoever’s name he can remember at the moment. “I mean, seriously. You can’t tell me that you’re not happy to see Thor, even with your absolute stubborn attitude pretending otherwise.”

“I’m not pretending _anything_ ,” Jane exclaimed, shooting Darcy a glare before turning her chin down to stare at her tablet. “I wasn’t expecting him to be here, and after rejecting his calls...it’s an awkward situation, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Is it awkward because you accidentally -”

“ _Darcy_.”

“Well, I think it’s nice that both Mr. Thor and Mr. Loki are here! The more help the better, right?” Peter tried to shift the subject, not wanting to see the two women argue over something he was unsure about. He knew for a fact that he didn’t want to get into anyone’s personal business. Seeing them approaching the sight, Peter slouched the backpack off his shoulders and unzipped it to start rummaging through. “So, what would you want first, Dr. Jane?”

“Oh, gimme the stethoscope!” Darcy demanded, her hand outstretched and red lips parted in a big grin. “I’m going to see if Ötzi is in a hollow shell or not!”

Jane didn’t say anything as Peter willingly gave Darcy the medical tool and and the both of them hurried ahead to the marked off area, reminding her of children at an amusement park. Soldiers on standby and lookout allowed them through and Darcy immediately placed the earplugs in and tested the chest-piece with a gentle touch of her fingertip. Once Jane caught up to them and pulled up the current heart rate and readings the stone was giving off, she gave Darcy and Peter the go-ahead to begin with their ridiculous bet. Darcy offered Jane a humorous wink before pressing the chest-piece to the flattest surface within her reach…

Darcy’s playful expression slowly melted away to a curious furrow in her brows. Slowly moving the piece to another area, she caught Jane’s attention when she wasn’t making any sort of joke or sarcastic comment. “Darcy?” she called out, only for her friend to give her a hand, telling her to wait, then looked to Peter.

“Hey, Pete. Do me a favor and knock on it.”

“ _What_?” Peter flinched, eyes darting between the two scientist and the rock. “A-are you sure that’s allowed?”

“Just do it!” Darcy snapped in a harsh whisper, and Peter scrambled a bit to the other side of the rock, trying to give them a fair amount of distance.

With Darcy’s encouragement, Peter knocked very gently on the side. It gave off no echoing noise outside and sounded like any plain rock coming into contact, but with Darcy’s reaction of a surprised gasp and reaching to yank Jane down to her level, it was evident that there was something going on that no one else was hearing. A couple of the S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. associates took notice and stood by, watching as Darcy yanked the plugs out of her ears and shoved them into Jane’s hands. “Put these on,” she instructed as she hurried to her feet. “You gotta hear this, it’s _insane_!”

Glancing to the other scientists watching them as she put the stethoscope on, Jane glanced to one of the poles lighting the area up where a camera was attached. A slight thought of knowing Thor would be watching her at the moment made her chest tighten, and Jane was quick to snap back into her work mode and follow Darcy’s example. Seeing that Darcy joined Peter’s side and motioned for her to go ahead, she placed the circular piece to the top of the rock and waited.

A steady rhythm of a heartbeat flooded Jane’s ears to the point that it felt like she had her ear pressed against someone’s chest. The sound was so strong and clear in comparison to the heart monitor she had been watching for a few days now, it nearly took Jane by surprise by the volume of it through such a thick, solid surface. She could vaguely hear Darcy tell her to be ready, and watched as the dark haired woman only used the tips of her fingers to tap against the surface…

Jane could hear an echo, sounding similar to a drop of water into a crystal clear pool inside an isolated cave. It made Jane freeze and hold her breath, because Darcy’s hypothesis was correct and a complete game-changer to their studies.

And then, as if it was someone right next to her hear, she heard an audible breath.

“I can’t believe it,” Jane whispered more to herself, all while Darcy and Peter got up to circle the rock and talk to the rest of the team that came to join them. Moving the chest-piece around, scooting a bit further to the area where she memorized from Peter’s filter view that the head was located, Jane listened in to the quiet, but still very much present for the stethoscope to pick up, breathing. A breathy laugh slipped from her lips as she listened to it for a moment longer before tugging the earplugs out. “A heartbeat...but also being able to breathe inside some sort of shell for who knows how long!”

Pressing her hands to the cool surface of the rock, Jane ignored the chatter and activity going on around her as she gazed in amazement at it. “Who _are_ you?” she asked aloud.

A vibration fluttered against her palms for a moment, catching her off guard, and she swore she heard a distinct noise akin to a whimper of someone who was dreaming. Jane fell silent for a moment, leaning closer to the rock when she felt the gentle vibration again against her touch.

“ _Hello_?” she whispered softly. “Can you...hear me in there?”

Another sound of a deep breath, and the vibration against her hand was stronger this time.

“Dr. Foster, there was a sudden movement from inside the stone!” a colleague announced. Jane glanced to the tablet on her lap to see the X-ray view showing the mass - but the hand that was once stretched out and above the head has moved closer to where Jane was showing on the camera, as if it was reaching towards her.

“Someone alert Dr. Banner and contact Fury immediately!” someone else called out.

Darcy’s voice caught Jane’s attention for a moment. “Peter, run back to the lab and ask for more stethoscopes at the first aid station. Grab, like, five or however many you can find.”

“Yeah, of course!” Peter answered.

Jane slowly looked up from her tablet to the side of the stone, where here hands were placed. Slowly sliding them down a bit, she tried to line up to where the hand inside would be. She pretended that they were palm-to-palm somehow, leaning closer and taking a deep breath before deciding to speak in a soft, gentle voice, all while everyone else was drowned out in the background.

“If you can hear me,” she began, “I mean you no harm, alright? You’re safe. Do you hear what I’m saying?”

There was no further noise or vibration, all was still. Jane glanced back to the screen of her tablet to see if there was any new movement, but the flickering of all the lights surrounding them caught her attention. Looking up, Jane saw that everyone else came to a halt as the lights dimmed and brightened in an odd pattern, a sort of electrical humming could be heard and soldiers instinctively tensed as all fell silent.

The buzzing suddenly turned into a high pitched ring, making some people cover their ears before the bulbs exploded and any form of light died. The area offered no city light pollution or anything useful from the nearby town, and only the moon and stars above could offer the littlest bit of light. All technological equipment sputtered before turning off seemingly on their own, and people began shouting in rising alarm. Soldiers yelled over the loud chatter...

Until an audible, echoing noise of a glass cracking called all’s attention, right from underneath Jane’s touch. Slowly, Jane mustered her courage to slowly turn back to the stone - 

Until a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, a torc bracelet glittered dimly from the light of the moon, igniting Jane to scream in fright as all alarms went off and all chaos was set loose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: Dr. Kirby's name is inspired by Jack Kirby, one of the creators of the original Thor Comics, alongside with Stan Lee.
> 
> Any comments or feedbacks is always appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this! You can also find me on Tumblr, if you're interested, under the same name of thepilotanon.


	3. iii. arise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: Absolute mischief and use of body horror (but not completely detailed).

Thor did not like being locked away from anything that would potentially put people he knew in danger, especially being nonverbally threatened with the use of guns against him to keep him in line. Even though it was more for the fact that _Loki_ was in his care, and it was _Loki_ who posed more of a threat to anyone and everyone who didn’t know of his changed ways, Thor wasn’t going to put the blame on him for any of it. If anything, Thor was impressed by how compliant he was being for the betterment of everyone and making everyone’s job easier. All he really did, since arriving and being locked and left in the lab with himself and Selvig (who was busying himself with reading a different computer screen and scribbling notes) was watch the live stream. Watching his brother’s body language, Thor noticed how his fists clenched and unclenched whenever someone passed within view of the rock and disappear, and held his fists tightly to the point his knuckles paled when Darcy and Peter popped into frame.

With Erik distracted and off into his own world for the moment, Thor stepped closer to his brother and looked up to watch Darcy fiddle with a stethoscope. “Do you really think it could be her?” he asked in a low voice. “Or...do you just _hope_ it’s her.”

“You know I can hope for many things and eventually be content with whatever comes of it.” Loki turned his head to give him a look and a half-hearted shrug. “If you remember how long it took me to come out of my own chambers and interact with anyone, I can assure you that I would very much not like to do it again. I’ll be ready with whatever comes of it, good or bad.”

Nodding, Thor looked back to the screen, hearing Darcy mention something about their wager with Peter as she put the ear pieces in. “A part of me would like to hope it is her, if you can believe it,” he confessed. “I know how much Sigyn meant to you beyond what I could even imagine, but she was also a very dear friend of mine.”

Loki gave a nod in acknowledgement but said nothing more, instead keeping his eyes glued to the screen as Darcy suddenly snapped at Peter over something. Thor turned his attentions back to the screen and watched as Peter knocked on the stone and the young woman’s reaction by grabbing Jane’s attention. Thor frowned as they listened to Darcy raving about something being ‘insane’ and scramble to Peter’s side to tap it with Jane using the medical tool to listen against the stone.

Erik made a thoughtful hum, slowly getting up from his chair. “Looks like Darcy found something interesting. We haven’t really had much time to interact with the stone,” he explained softly. “With both teams setting up lights and all that for us, and them going at it with their explosives…”

All three of them stood and watched in complete silence as activity seem to grow on screen, and then Thor zeroed in on Jane seeming to become distracted by something within the stone. All while agents and scientists chatted back and forth, and Darcy ordering Peter to go back and get more stethoscopes back at the building, Jane seemed to begin speaking to the stone.

Although it was a whisper, the audio picked it up clearly over the other noises going on in the back. “ _Can you...hear me in there_?”

“ _Dr. Foster, there was sudden movement from inside the stone_!” an offscreen voice announced, and Erik was quick to reach over and pull up a new window of the X-ray filter beside the live stream. All three of them immediately saw the difference of the position of the outstretched arm seeming to move towards Jane. They watched Jane seeming to follow along with her tablet, trying to interact with what she couldn’t see without the tablet handy on her lap.

“ _If you can hear me, I mean you no harm, alright_?” Thor heard Jane speak to the stone, her tone gentle and attempting to be reassuring.

Suddenly, all the screens of the computers glitched into static for a few moments, along with Erik’s tablet that was left to the side flashing before dying out, but then Jane’s voice came through the static audio, amplified inside the lab.

“ _You’re safe_.”

Every light within the lab suddenly brightened to nearly blinding before exploding, making all three men cover themselves with their arms. All the holographic screens breaking apart into static before disappearing completely, rendering them into absolute darkness for a good long minute before the emergency backup lights switched on in a red glow from the corners. A distant sound of an alarm was heard, and Erik cursed under his breath as he went to the center computer grid and tried to turn it back on. Through the thick walls, Thor vaguely heard panic rise from the other side and voices of soldiers giving directions and scientists panicking amongst themselves.

“I can’t get the computer to turn back on, even with the backup generator,” Erik hissed. Pressing the button on his own earpiece, he called for Jane and Darcy repeatedly. “Damn it! I can’t get ahold of them.”

“We need to get out of this lab,” Thor said seriously to Erik, who agreed with him and went to try and use his keycard on the door or override the manual to open it. Turning to face Loki, Thor approached him. “We need to get out to the area the stone is,” he explained, reaching out to grasp Loki’s shoulder. “We need to make sure that no one is hurt, but also make sure the armed ones don’t -”

Attempting to come into contact with his brother’s shoulder, only to phase through and the edges of Loki began to burn gold. Snapping his eyes to Loki’s, Thor felt his temper flare immensely at the sight of his brother’s illusion fading away. “ _Loki_!” he roared. “How could you -!”

“I know you'll be upset, but you should know me better that I don’t enjoy taking orders from Nick Fury,” Loki’s double said with an apologetic tone. “I’m outside of the building and I’ll be sure to not cause too much trouble.”

Once the illusion had disappeared, Thor marched over to his duffle bag that was tucked away to the corner near Peter’s spot and ripped it open instead of using the zipper. Erik swore under his breath again and came to the railing beside the Asgardian. “I can’t get the door to open, and no one is answering me when I pound on the door!”

Pulling out Stormbreaker from the bag, Thor found his balance and turned to the door. “Do me a favor, Erik,” he started, anger biting his words in a growl. “It would be best to take cover, because I am ready to kick my brother’s ass right now and don’t plan on having anyone in my way.”

* * *

The bulbs from the light poles exploding startled Peter Parker, making him jump into a ready position until he felt it settle. Focusing on his own surroundings in the sudden dark - until his eyes adjusted - he twisted his bracelet to ignite his suit to form and wake up FRIDAY to turn on his night-vision lenses within his mask that he kept in his pocket for emergencies. He could hear the faded alarm coming from the building, looking over to see any light was gone; looking back to where he came, it was also dark and he could see soldiers and agents running around in the distance, but he couldn’t quite hear what was being yelled.

“FRIDAY, what’s going on with the lights?” he asked, looking both ways of the path.

“I have no idea. There’s no connection whatsoever coming from the lab or any of the tablets I was originally connected to,” FRIDAY answered just as curious as he was. “The emergency lights and alarm are activated, but there’s nothing; no phone connection, internet or any offline signals. I can not reach the lab or Dr. Banner at this time.”

“I’m going to head back to the building and see if they need the garage door open to get better light, or something,” he told the AI, until he saw something move from the corner of his visors. Turning, Peter narrowed on someone who was hunched over and walking stiffly about sixty-feet away from the path. Their side was facing him and long hair covered their face, so he couldn’t identify them in any way. “Oh hey, there’s someone right there. Maybe they need help back to the factory.”

“Could it be a local? There is no form of weapon or badge of any kind that I can detect,” FRIDAY suggested, but Peter shook his head and began to trot over and off the graveled pathway, ignoring the broken glass.

“This whole area is private property, and town is easily over a half hour jog from here. _Hey_! Are you lost?” Peter called out, waving his hands over his head. “Hey there! _You_! It’s me, Peter - or, y’know, Spider-Man. I’m with Dr. Banner and Dr. Selvig!”

He figured the person was a woman, but she didn’t stop to give him any acknowledgment that she heard him. Peter saw that she had her arms wrapped around herself, as if she was cold, and could somewhat hear her mumbling as he got closer. “Are you okay? You’re way off the pathway,” he explained as he jump a bit ahead of her to try and find her face, pointing back to the darkened path, but she refused to look up or move her hair away. She walked past him in stiff steps, completely ignoring his presence and continued to mutter and whisper in a frightened tone. He could hear a whimper slip from her as she stumbled a bit and caught her footing.

“Hey,” Peter called out gently. “Are you scared of the dark, or something? I know I was startled when the lights blew, but it's okay.” Reaching out, Peter wrapped his hand around her bicep, which finally made her stop walking in a sudden halt. “But, it’s all fine! Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is here now, ma’am!”

The woman seemed to rock forward and back for a moment, and Peter’s skin began to tingle with his Spider-Senses going haywire before the sound of a crack came from nowhere. Looking around, Peter tried to detect what was making him high alert, whispering to FRIDAY if the AI could sense anything...only to come up silent.

“FRIDAY, you there?” he called out, frowning when his mask’s internal readers dimmed to sleep mode and only leaving his night-vision on. Changing his attention back to the still woman, Peter did his best to remain calm. “We should get you back, ma’am. We can get someone to check on you better than I can.”

A low, guttural groan erupted from her, startling Peter to squeeze her arm a bit tighter in worry.

“Ma’am?”

Feeling his breathing becoming faster, Peter watched as the woman slowly stood up straight and drop her hands down to her sides. For a split second, he saw something glitter from the light of the moon, glancing to see a bracelet wrapped around her wrist. Tilting his head, Peter could swear he had seen that bracelet like that before somewhere, but the sudden flinch of the hand it was connected to startled him. Looking up, Peter heard the same cracking noise coming from the strange woman as her head twist like around slowly to her back, and two, blackened out eyes stared right at him. The cracking sounding like the bones in her neck were breaking once her face snapped into place - completely backwards.

“M-ma’am..?” Peter whispered, absolutely terrified at the demonic eyes peeking through locks of hair dangling in front of her face.

Her lips parted, and Peter felt himself begin to quake in fear as her mouth stretched way too far back and black fluid dripped down her chin, revealing needle-like teeth in the moonlight. A snarling growl slipped from her, and Peter began to hyperventilate.

“ _RELEASE ME_!” she shrieked, a loud, ear-piercing wail that caused him to scream as well.

“ _SCARY DEMON LADY_!”

* * *

The night was cold and biting in tiny, little pricks, yet she kept pushing herself to walk on through the patches of grass and rock. The dried, crusting blood itched and the ash clung to her clothes and skin like some kind of disgusting grime were ignored, despite being an absolute peeve of hers, was not important at the moment. Having not to use her legs for so long, her limbs were burning and screaming at her to stop and rest, but she knew she couldn’t.

After managing to subdue the armored strangers by taking away their ability to see clearly, replacing their unusual weapons with large serpents in their grasps before having them coil themselves into knots before changing back to their metal forms, she destroyed as much as she could and created enough uproar to distract them all to flee. It was only moments later when a masked man approached her, and she had to create an illusion upon herself to scare the man to the point he actually fainted from fright. She could feel the air rise with panic and danger, and all she wanted to do was to run and hide before trying to contact Heimdall or anyone back _home_ …

Sigyn let out a quiet, shaky breath, trying to ignore the aches racking through her whole body. Pushing her hair back with both hands, tugging her roots in frustration, she paused for only a moment before picking up the pace. She held back any tears desperately trying to escape from her eyes, but she had to keep focus on her plan. Repeating to herself under her breath, she chanted and prayed as she continued to hurry along. “Find shelter, reach out… Must find safe shelter and hide. I need to find Mother…”

Nothing looked familiar to her surroundings and the darkness wasn’t as much help either, but it was definitely at her advantage in comparison to whoever were after her. In the distance, Sigyn could hear voices coming from the block-shaped structure; voices speaking about how a “truck” won’t start or a “flashlight” is dead, making her sense how they were trying to ignite some sort of large contraption she drained upon breaking out of her stone. Whoever was after her couldn’t see well in the dark, so she silently hurried to create more distance between them and herself. She abandoned her cloak when the unknown woman grabbed on to the edge of it, when she stood, and any sort of cold breeze was a reminder of that she was out in the open. Going over to a rocky cluster that she vaguely recalled leading to the mountains, Sigyn wedged her way through an opening to wall herself away from whoever was after her and tumbled down. She refused to stay in place, forcing herself to get back on her feet and continue on.

Wobbling a bit until she found her balance again, Sigyn raised her eyes to find a familiar figure standing down the only pathway leading further into the rocky labyrinth. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the familiar icy green eyes locking onto her.

Loki was wearing unfamiliar garments, but that didn’t take away from the familiarity of his face, his stance and body language. The way he carried himself as he kept his eyes locked on her and she stared back, seeming to watch each other and waiting for who was going to move next, was all too familiar to her and made her aching body scream, wishing to fall into his arms. From the distance, more and more voices were being heard, but it felt muffled from of the tall, natural wall between them, leaving the two alone.

Loki took a cautious step forward, and she reacted to it as an absolute threat. He paused when he saw her bare her teeth and an ornament dagger emerged from her palm in a quick, shimmering blue light, gripping the hilt tightly.

“Sigyn,” he spoke, and she felt her throat clog with unwept cries at his tone: urging and gentle. When he took another step forward, she stepped back and readied herself with her weapon raised in a proper stance - and he immediately raised his hands to show that he was unarmed. “Sigyn, _please_ …”

“This isn’t a dream,” she bit out, swallowing thickly. “I am no longer dreaming, am I.”

“No, you’re not dreaming,” he agreed. He obviously wanted to come closer, looking at the distance between them in the narrow path, but he remained still. “You know who I am. It’s me -”

“I know who you are!” Sigyn snapped, her voice cracking. She mentally cursed herself for possibly revealing her hiding spot, and tears stung the back of her eyes as she fought to hold them back. “I know, and I will not be tricked by some mere illusion of him. How _dare_ you try to mimic his image!”

“This is no trick, my love. I’m Loki, son of Odin and prince of Asgard. We grew up together and were apprentices, and your mother was a trusted warrior for my father and a dear, dear friend to my mother.” He could see how he wasn’t getting any positive reaction to her, and he sighed in frustration. Sigyn wasn’t believing him. “Listen to me. You and I...we were lovers, before you had left Asgard with your mother, to spend time on Midgard for Odin Allfather. _I_ gave you that bracelet you have on right there, as a parting gift, before you left and I made you promise me you would always wear it. _Please_ , you _have_ to believe me -”

Sigyn shook her head, not lowering the dagger in her hand. “You can not sway my mind that easily.”

“I know. You are too smart to be tricked, but you know when someone lies to you. You are probably the only one besides my own mother who can tell when I lie,” he told her, hoping she could read his eyes from this distance. He could see that she was working herself up, getting ready to attack him or flee and he was worried for her own safety. From seeing her stumble and her legs shake just from standing, Loki knew she was pushing herself with energy that she didn’t have. “Let me come closer, and you can decide if I am tricking you or not -”

“ _No_! Stay away from me,” she spat at him, conjuring another dagger in her free hand. Her breathing accelerated from her growing fear, and her words were starting to fumble and crack under pressure she was putting herself under. Loki feared he was starting to lose her. “Let me leave, or I will not hesitate to do whatever I have to do. Do you understand me? I’m _not_ afraid. I do not care who you are or what you want from me - I will not be tricked by my dreams or by any enemy! It’s cruel to have me see him and be left with nothing! Please, just let me pass. I haven’t hurt anyone, and I don’t want to! I do not want -”

“ _Sigyn_ ,” he called out to her in a strong, firm voice. “Sigyn, concentrate on me!”

The woman seemed to still, breathing heavily as tears began to fill her frightened eyes. She stared at him and her hold on the daggers trembled just slightly. “W-wh...what did you say?”

Loki slowly lowered his raised hands and held them out, almost as if he was carrying a large bowl in his palms. Taking a deep breath, he took a slow step towards her, minding any noise he would make to frighten her again. “Concentrate on _me_ , Sigyn,” he said softly, pleadingly. “Just concentrate on me and nothing else.”

Sigyn went still as a statue for a long minute, and Loki kept whispering to her as he took another slow step. Then another, and another one after that. Her chin trembled and her hold on the daggers loosened enough for it to start to slip from her hold, the weapons fading away from her in a soft, blue shimmer. She was still stiff and defensive, but didn’t seem like she was going to run off from him or go on the attack any longer. He knew it was progress - especially knowing her past history with fighting to defend herself, he might as well have saved his tail and her own safety. He knew she wouldn’t stop, if she had to fight, regardless how exhausted and weak she appeared.

“You can’t be,” she said quietly, almost in a whimper. Tears suddenly spilled down her dirtied cheeks when she shook her head slowly. “Every time I would see you, you would speak such loving words to me and disappear out of my reach… _You_ haunted me in my dreams for so long, _please_ don’t make me suffer any more,” her voice cracked, and Loki felt his heart twist painfully at the pained sorrow in her tone.

“Concentrate on me, my dearest darling,” he urged, and the affectionate name made her flinch. He was much closer to her now and would have been able to touch her with his outstretched hands, yet he didn’t dare lurch towards her or dare to try to pin her down. “You and I only know how to do this. See to it that I am _real_ , Sigyn. I'm here.”

The tears didn’t stop when she looked down to his posed hands, his palms and wrists exposed to show that he had no way to bring forth any weapon through his magic without giving himself away. He made himself as open and vulnerable as possible, gently urging her to take control. Loki felt his heart pound hard against his chest, how desperately he wanted to cradle her exhausted body against his and let her feel his warmth to be real, but he knew her better…

Her shaking hands raised themselves, slowly flipping them over so that her hands matched his position between them. Hesitating for a moment, her eyes darting to his face with a warning sharpness to them, Sigyn lowered her hands so that they would fit to his - her knuckles on his palms. Loki’s long fingers gently enclosed around her wrists, his thumbs coming to rest on the inside of her palms to gently brush along the lines and feeling her quickened pulse; the hold light enough to allow her to pull away at any time, yet Sigyn pressed against the warmth of his hands more firmly, a sob slipping from her as her shoulder shook with her cries.

“You’re real,” she stated under her breath, trying to keep her crying quiet. “You’re not a fake…”

Loki nodded slow, his thumbs circling her palm in a soothing gesture. He could feel how cold she was to the touch, and his own throat burned with tears starting to well up in his eyes. “ _Concentrate on me_ ,” he whispered to her, his voice thick, “and nothing else.” With the most gentle movements, Loki leaned down and touched the curve of his skull with hers. She hiccuped another whimper, and Loki tried so hard to keep himself together at the feeling of her whole form shaking under his touch. “It’s just _you_ and _I_ , and no other worry to disturb this moment.”

Jumping forward, Sigyn flew into his arms and clung to him desperately and all restraint that remained held by a single thread snapped as she cried into his chest. Her nails digging into the back of his suit, her stained face burying itself against him as she chanted his name over and over, all while Loki’s arms wrapped around her tightly. One hand pulling her into his embrace to the point that they could have melted together while the other tangled into her hair, cradling her head and hiding his face into the spot where her neck and shoulder met, releasing a relieved sob. The smell of ash clung to her, but he could still smell the distinct scent of what he remembered just being _her_ \- Sigyn, who he dreamt of when his nightmares didn’t plague him so rarely, was _real_ and _alive_ and in his arms. She clung to him, crying as her legs finally gave way and he had to hold them both up as he settled on his knees to the rocky flooring to support them. He didn’t care if he was dirtying his clothes, not when he could _feel_ and _hear_ every breath, every cry and sob of her right there in the moment.

_Sigyn was alive_.

Slowly, with her energy completely drained and all adrenaline and anxiety flushed out of her whole being, Sigyn slumped against him as dead weight. Her hands still clung to the lapel of his suit and his hair, but she began to lose consciousness in his arms and Loki sensed it. Cradling her head back gently to meet her falling eyes, and one of her dirtied hands reached up to brush along his cheekbone, he saw her weak attempt to smile at him. He turned his lips to her touch, but his eyes never left her as she released a tired, defeated exhale. Loki could still see the fear in them, and he pulled her head back to tuck under his chin in a protective manner.

“You’re safe now,” he told her in a firm voice, ignoring the tear that slipped down his cheek while speaking with his lips to her hair. “I won’t let any harm come to you, darling. You can rest now.”

He felt her fall unconscious and her shaking eventually ceased. His hold on her refused to let up, even as he heard voice venturing closer to where they were hidden away. Giving her head one more gentle press of his lips and nose against her head before situating to stand with Sigyn in his arms, holding her close. With the familiar sound of his brother yelling for him, Loki took a deep breath to collect his bearings before turning around to return the back way he took coming in. He hoped whatever warmth his body produced could flow into her own, unsure of her current state leaving her weak to the cold. Loki wanted to get her indoors as soon as possible and try to get her more comfortable, but first…

Coming out into the opening, Loki looked around until he noticed the familiar signs of Thor conjuring electrical static around Stormbreaker with plenty of other agents (assuming they were soldiers by the helmets they wore) with him.

“ _LOKI_!” Thor yelled out when he caught sight of him, making Loki sigh in relief and in worry when Sigyn didn’t even flinch in her sleep. As soon as the blond Asgardian marched his way over, axe ready, Loki just knew he was more than irritated over his little stunt back in the lab. “How _dare_ you -!”

As soon as Thor caught sight of the unconscious woman in his arms, seeing her face, he immediately shuts up and stared in disbelief. Looking up to Loki and probably seeing the dried tear track on his brother’s cheek and the somewhat calm demeanor yet protective hold on Sigyn, Thor’s anger dissipated and his lightning sparks disappeared. Anger and frustration quickly became replaced with shock and awe.

Taking a long breath, Thor dropped Stormbreaker to his side in the grass to rub his hand down his face. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “Are you sure it’s her?”

“I’m certain.”

“How do you know?”

Loki did not want to reveal the private, intimate detail of how he figured it out - how they both realized that they were real to each other. It was something that was always only between him and Sigyn, and he refused to give that away to anyone. There was no trick or any of his scheming in play to lead Thor astray from the fact that this _is_ Sigyn. Shaking his head, Loki vaguely noticed the approaching group of people coming up behind Thor, and it made him take a half step back and hold her tighter. Looking to his brother, Loki dropped his stoic, emotionless mask and shook his head again to him, almost pleadingly to Thor.

“ _Please_ , Brother,” Loki whispered as the call of shouts emerging.

Thor bore his eyes into Loki’s for a long moment, and Fury and other agents and soldiers suddenly crowd around the two with Bruce in tow. Loki rebuilt his expressionless frown, his natural instinct to hide his true feelings from everyone else but his brother. Shouts and threats directed towards the dark haired Asgardian were tuned out, and he yanked himself out of reach when someone tried to pry Sigyn from his arms, his eyes still locked with Thor’s. It took until Loki finally snapped at a soldier, who then pulled out a handgun and aimed it at his forehead, but he didn’t back down as he snarled at the armed man. Thor could see the absolute truth in him, finally approaching the soldier and urging him to withdraw his weapon and let him handle it. Once being able to usher the soldier out of the way, Thor called Bruce over while Fury ordered someone to bring out the Asgardian cuffs and ready “the room” for lockup.

Turning to Loki, Thor dropped a hand on his shoulder. “Let Bruce take her. He will check her over and make sure she’s safe,” he said, seeing the hesitation in his brother’s eyes. “You’ve caused enough trouble, but I can promise you that we will handle it and get you back to her as soon as possible.”

“ _Brother_ -”

“If you want my trust in _you_ , Loki, you need to put your trust in _me_ ,” Thor pressed, calling Bruce closer and trying to get Loki to lessen his grip on Sigyn. “Remember what I’ve said: Sigyn is a dear friend of mine.”

Despite him really not wanting to, Loki allowed the green scientist carefully slide in to pass Sigyn to his arms. Once making sure Bruce had proper hold of her limp body, Loki reached to move a lock of hair that blew from the breeze out of her face when the familiar red glow of a laser emerged on his pale hand. Taking a few steps back, Loki surrendered to Fury’s authority by holding his hands up as more lasers pointed at him, meeting the man’s furious glare in front of the lineup.

“You must _really_ love to test my patience,” Fury concluded as he stepped forward with the Asgardian cuffs ready. He didn’t comment how Loki willingly held his wrists out for the old director to clamp them down tightly on purpose. “Well, when you play stupid game, you get stupid prizes. Time for you to go in our new time-out corner and think about what you’ve done.”

Loki watched as Thor followed Bruce closely, the both of them making their way back to the factory with some coated agents trailing behind and further ahead of them. “So be it, Fury. Whatever gives you and your men the best comfort.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: Sigyn's first comic appearance in Thor was in 1978. However, for this fic, this is a complete rewrite of her character depiction and her appearance is up to the reader (as reader-insert, faceclaim or their interpretation).  
> Any comments or feedback is always appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this! You can also find me on Tumblr, if you're interested, under the same name of thepilotanon.


	4. iv. hush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: None.

“Y’know, I should send your King a ‘thank you’ card for providing us with official Asgardian cuffs and restraints for moments like these. They help keep my blood pressure down a bit, and my doc has been suggesting meditation and changing my diet at my last checkup,” Fury said with crossed arms. Standing in front of the seated (and practically chained at this point) God of Mischief, he gave Loki a very pointed look. 

Alongside with the handcuffs built by the very hands of Asgardians wrapped tightly around his wrists, some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents also provided all-too familiar chains and collars for his neck and ankles, which hung heavily around him and were bolted to the ground. Even when he tried to readjust himself on the metal chair, movement was minimal and useless within the new “box” they decided to lock him in. He vaguely matched it to the room similar he found Thor in a long way back, when he was exiled and attempting to lift Mjölnir after making a scene at the camp set-up. The only difference was the cameras in every corner, an obvious alarm over his head and could easily hear the familiar sounds of armed soldiers outside of the cell. It felt a bit annoying to him, but he wasn’t going to voice it out loud while he’s tied up.

“However, knowing that your adopted brother had volunteered years back to test these bad boys out for us, and now seeing you in them, I feel like I’m on a sunny beach with my toes in the sand and my Dolly Parton playlist tuning me to tranquility.”

Loki’s brows furrowed a bit in confusion. “Midgardians like to listen to dollies… Are they the type where you pull the string and it makes noises, or the ones with buttons? Is that what truly calms _you_?” he asked with genuine curiosity.

Fury’s snarky smirk disappeared. “Don’t you start dissing Dolly Parton in front of me.”

Loki only rolled his eyes and shook his head. Fury took a free chair from the corner of the small room and dragged it obnoxiously across the floor to face him, taking a seat just a couple feet away. The two played a game of stare-off for a good minute before Fury leaned back in his chair and gestured with a finger around the ceiling. “State of the art cameras and audio recordings that can hear a fly sneaking around as well as a monitor and professional on your breathing and heart readings to tell if you’re trying to dupe me,” he announced. “ Although, I’m sure your years of expertise can make it difficult, but nonetheless, let’s get this show on the road. It’s just you and me in here, but I have plenty of eyes and ears on us. We’re not going to be disturbed, unless you try anything again.”

“Impressive.”

Fury huffed in annoyance, but didn’t falter. “From what we managed to scrap from the altered video from the X-ray imagery, the woman you were carrying is the same person who came from the rock we’ve been trying to break for the past few days,” he carried on. With a flourish, he raised a brow to Loki. “How did that happen?”

“I have no idea. You wouldn’t let me observe up-close to rule out the possibilities,” Loki answered matter-of-factly.

“Thor mentioned a name that we picked up on his way with Dr. Banner,” Fury stated next, and Loki’s nails dug into the skin of his palm for a brief moment. “Swiggin’?”

“ _Sigyn_ ,” he corrected automatically. As much as he really didn’t want to, Loki knew that it was time to confess to some of Fury’s personal questions to a certain limit - but he will be damned if they pronounced her name like _that_. “Her name is Sigyn.”

“And you both know her,” Fury pressed, head tilting a bit, calculating while watching Loki’s reactions.

Loki nodded, and he had Fury make another hand gesture to continue and it annoyed him a bit further. “She grew up with Thor and I. Her mother was a valued warrior to Odin during the old wars, and Sigyn was an apprentice, along with myself, to the Queen in practicing seiðr - or magic, as it’s called to the general audience.”

“I’m going to assume that she’ll be trouble, once she wakes up?” He didn’t outright say it, but Loki knew what Fury had meant by “ _trouble_ ” by his tone.

“Hardly,” Loki scoffed with an eyeroll. “If anything, you should be thankful it is her and no one else from her family.”

“She blew out _every single light_ within the property and _drained_ out all our gadgets. It has taken us over an hour to get our power back on and our computers running to catch up,” Fury began listing off, leaning to rest his elbows on his knees to get closer to him. “How can I be thankful when I have multiple witnesses telling me how she transformed guns into humongous snakes in the hands of my agents, and turned my machinery into _pretzels_? Not only that, I had someone carry in Peter, who claims he encountered some _demonic woman_ trying to flee like some kind of real-life scary movie. How is that something I should be thankful for?”

“Are any of your men injured? _Bleeding_? Besides what sounds like young Peter fainting from fright, he hasn’t obtained any sort of bodily harm, correct?” When Fury didn’t answer right away, Loki made a pointed look. “While I may appreciate you considering us being more dangerous to the point of not to be taken lightly, I can assure you that Sigyn would use harm as a last resort on anyone, regardless of the situation. From what I can understand, and also given that none of your men even appear to have a _scratch_ , Sigyn defended herself by creating distractions and minimizing whatever she assumed was a weapon to scraps. It is an old tactic we were taught to make our enemies unarmed and as powerless as possible before deploying an actual attack. My mother encouraged it for any sticky situation we would find ourselves in.

“However, I am certain, if she were to awaken with your agents _aiming guns_ at her again while she’s _trapped_ indoors, surrounded by unknown faces, she will not be as merciful as before,” he advised. “She is the type to give people only _one_ chance.”

The earpiece in Fury’s ear caught his attention, and Loki could pick up the voices mentioning of retracting agents from Banner and Thor’s current location. On the inside, Loki was thankful that Sigyn was most likely within the infirmary or even the closed off lab and being tended to; especially with the fact that his brother was staying true to his word and staying by her side while Banner was looking her over. It also helped to know that at least some people were taking his word seriously (although, he wouldn’t put it past them to double-check with Thor). Fury’s eye darted to him, but said nothing.

“Who is she to you?” Fury suddenly asked, catching Loki offguard for a brief moment.

Loki narrowed his eyes. “I have already explained that my brother and I grew up with her, and that her family -”

“No,” Fury interrupted with a slow shake of his head. “Who is she to _you_?”

* * *

Sigyn inhaled deeply, squirming in her spot as unfamiliar sensations were touching her. Cracking her eyes open, a white, blinding light disrupted her vision and she forced herself to blink through the annoying sting in her eyes while lifting her head. Even though she still felt like her body was weighed from overexerting herself since emerging from the stone, she slid herself to her elbows and carefully registered that she laying upon a cushioned piece of furniture of some sort. Sliding her hands on said furniture, she felt cold metal framing the sides and a sort of cloth covering the padding. She couldn’t recognize it, but she knew it was nowhere near the same material of the sheets and blankets back on Asgard, in the comfort of her own bedchamber. Looking down to herself, she realized that she wasn’t wearing the clothing she had on the last time she was awake; instead some kind of scratchy, thin parchment the poked and tickled her skin in the most annoying way -

Movement from the foot of the bed caught her attention, and Sigyn snapped her head to see someone stand slowly. Once her eyesight cleared, she immediately recognized the shapes and facial hair of a friend.

“Thor?” she asked quietly, then seeing the way the man stood and watched her made a relieved smile spread on her face. “ _Thor_ , by Gods, I -”

When she tried to move, Thor shot a hand out to force her to remain still in her spot. Confused, Sigyn obeyed but looked around, being unable to register anything around them. There was no fire nearby, nor any form of wood or stone that she could see; if she thought she was brought back to Asgard, this looked _nothing_ like Eir’s healing rooms in the slightest. Perhaps she was on a ship?

Slight movement occurred from the corner of her eye, and Sigyn immediately found that there were more people present. A woman, a young man, and then this large, green and confused looking creature were staring at her and trying not to move a muscle. Stiffening, Sigyn readied her hands to conjure her daggers, but Thor stepped around the bed and gave her a warning glare her way, both hands spread out to keep everyone in their place. It was then that Sigyn took notice of Thor’s odd clothing and his physique, along with his eyes being two different colors.

“ _Thor_!” she cried out in shock. “Have you been challenged by Volstagg in feasting on a bilgesnipe? And your eye! What -”

“ _Don’t speak_!” Thor bellowed, his voice firm. It instantly confused Sigyn more at the way he was behaving towards her. He looked and sound like Thor, and she could see that he matched the same body language as the friend she recalled in her memory, despite the obvious belly and length of hair...why was he behaving this way, as if she was a threat?

Sitting up on her own, Sigyn’s eyes darted between Thor and the unfamiliar faces watching her every move. “Thor, it’s _me_ ,” she insisted, deciding to keep her hands empty to support herself. “Do you not remember me?”

“If you claim yourself to be my dear friend Sigyn, then humor my suspicion,” he said. “Tell me something that only the real Sigyn would know of me.”

Sigyn glanced to the strangers - Midgardians, she assumed - as if to question the seriousness of the situation. However, once seeing the younger man’s slightly concerned expression and the green giant shifting on his feet, she realized the reasoning. If she happened to still be on Midgard, and after the whole chaotic rampage she caused, she honestly couldn’t blame everyone for being so wary of her being awake. Looking back to Thor, and seeing his serious demeanor was not going to break anytime soon, she caved and leaned against the cold wall for support.

“The times when we were children, and I got very sick to the point of being bedridden or I was upset over something, Loki would transform you into a frog and show you off to me to make me smile,” she tried. “I gave you the nickname of _Throg_ , whenever you were in that form.”

“ _Aww_ , that’s so _cute_!” the woman with spectacles cooed and the green giant gently shushed her when Sigyn flinched at her sudden vocals. Her accent was a little unfamiliar to Sigyn, but her voice was genuinely soft and nonthreatening...and amused by the story.

Thor scoffed haughty back at her. “Anyone and everyone across the Realm Eternal know of the stories of my brother turning me into a frog. It is a classic amongst the children on Alfheim,” he said.

Sigyn sighed. “What about the time when there was a feast in honor of your earlier escapades with the Warriors Three and my sister, and all you men drunk yourself into a stupor from Odin's special mead,” she started, “and you ended up having a heavy osculation with Fandral? That was a private affair, amongst us all and the royal court!”

Thor cleared his throat and scratched at his beard. “That is not _too unknown_ amongst travelers or spies, once the servers began their gossip in the marketplace,” he defended, ignoring how Peter was asking Darcy and Bruce what the word osculation meant under his breath.

“Oh, for the love of Odin’s beard,” Sigyn hissed, dropping her head into her hand in frustration. “Thor, you have a birthmark on your left ass cheek!”

“That was trending upon _the Facebookings_ and _the Tweeter Birds_ for _months_!” Thor snapped back, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment. “Anyone who studies the Asgardian royal family down to the last detail would know, even across the Nine Realms. You lose a few pounds to the point that your trousers drop when you bend over, and it is brought back up all over again!”

“I actually did know that,” Darcy mumbled with amusement. “It became a meme after a while -”

“Your mother calls it the Blessed Bum in all of Asgard!” Sigyn practically yelled at him, taking everyone back by surprised. “When I was helping her heal you, when you burned your whole backside when you _stupidly_ fought the fire creatures of Svol, because you were foolish enough to ignore Loki’s warning of the river being infested with nests, and then begged to never bring it up again once Queen Frigga revealed her nickname of your ass to me!”

Everyone was silent as Sigyn pressed her fingertips to her temples, trying to hold back tears. “Is there _anything else_ I should say to prove to you that I am who I say I am?” she demanded Thor, who was pretty much red as a tomato and squirmed where he stood. “I know you to be hard-headed and an oaf as soon as you open your mouth, but not the point to give me a headache!”

Thor practically threw himself at Sigyn, hugging her tightly as he bit back a sob and rocked them awkwardly on the cot. “You _are_ most definitely the Sigyn I grew up with. The sass and comment of my birthmark is true to no other,” he announced with a croaked laugh. “I cannot believe that it’s actually you, after all this time! I have missed you dearly, my friend!”

Despite being interrogated like some kind of foe, Sigyn hugged him back just as tightly and sniffed. When she reopened her eyes, she flinched further to hide against Thor at the sight of the green creature standing right at the bedside. Staring at him, Sigyn waited until her friend collected himself and noticed the tension radiating off of her, turning his head to see what she was staring so frightened of. “Ah, how rude of me,” he mumbled and stood straight. “Sigyn, I want you to meet a good friend of mine. This man here is Bruce Banner; he is also known as the Incredible Hulk when on the battlefield with me, and is also known to be practiced in many difficult subjects. He helped ensure me that you are healthy. Do not let his appearance worry you, he is a Midgardian who has only altered himself to be stronger.”

Bruce held up to show a blanket in his grasp, holding it out to her with a kind smile. “It can get pretty cold in here,” he said, and his voice matched his eyes of a gentle demeanor. “I’m sorry, but the other scientists demanded your clothing, and all we had available were the paper gowns. I’m having Selvig search for proper clothes in your size right now.”

She didn’t quite understand who he was referring to, but she guessed it would have to do with the mass of people she was trying to avoid. Taking the blanket after some hesitation, Sigyn let it fall open and draped it around herself. “Why...would they want my garments?” she asked while Thor made sure she was properly tucked, just like he would back when they were much younger.

“Carbon dating, I would imagine. Perhaps to try and find any fragments of the stone you were in or unusual residue to help with the study, like gamma readings or radiation, possibly looking for any familiar particles that could match anything we’ve discovered…” Bruce eventually trailed off when Sigyn looked more and more confused than before, making him clear his throat. “They’re trying to find answers as to who you are and how you got into the stone we found you in, as well as how you got out. Although, I would think it would be better to ask from the source herself.”

Thor looked to Sigyn expectantly, but she grimaced immediately and scooted further away from them as much as she could. “Sigyn, you are safe now,” he insisted, bending down to her level to meet her eyes. “I made a promise to Loki that you will be safe, and everyone in this room is a trusted companion of mine. You can tell us.”

Still, she shook her head and seem to stare off into nothing for a long moment. Her grip on the blanket tightening after a period of thinking, now becoming a little distraught. “I don’t remember,” she said thickly, and the familiar sting of tears blurred her vision. “Where is Loki? Where exactly are we?”

Bruce took a step back to give space, turning towards the other two occupants in the room and ushering them gently to leave the little nook they placed her in. Once away from prying eyes and their conversation far away enough to give them privacy, Thor kneeled and rest one of his large hands on her knee. A tear fell from her eyes, and he could see the genuine pain and fear hidden within them as she finally met his gaze.

“You’ve been missing for a _long_ time, Sigyn,” he told her in a soft but firm voice, implying the seriousness of it all. “It’s been centuries since I, or anyone of Asgard, has last seen you. You’re still on Midgard - on Earth - but a long, long time has passed since, as you may probably have noticed.”

“Where is Loki?”

“He is being held accountable for going against orders of someone in charge of those who found you. He’s in no danger, I promise you, but the severity of your circumstances and his actions have led the mortals in charge to distrust his behavior at the moment.” Feeling her tense further, he shook his head. “It’ll be alright, I promise you. Once they know that neither you or Loki pose any threat, they will most likely release him in due time.

“Sigyn, we’ve all thought you dead all this time,” Thor confessed to her, reaching up to wipe away a fresh tear. “Heimdall could never find you, and Father returned to the location we last knew you to be and found no trace of anything. Not of the village nor you seemed to have left any trace of existence, from what he had told us. Tyr was in the search, as well.”

After listening to him reassuring her that she was safe, she rubbed her eyes. “I don’t remember what led me to be sealed away - in the stone, or whatever it is. I was attempting to run from something...and then being stuck in a slumber?” Sigyn slowly shook her head. “I don’t _remember_. Why can I not remember..? I remember the village, Mother being with me...but what had happened?”

“There is nothing you can recall? Are you certain?” Thor could see that she was struggling to remember, and the fact of not being able to recall anything was worrying for her. In comparison to Loki, he knew Sigyn would never lie in a concerning situation like this. Despite knowing her to be strong and absolutely stubborn, having seen her take on various vicious opponents and making a game out of fights that she always comes out victorious from, he finds her frightened and small at this very moment. She was as if she was a child once more, bedridden with an illness and absolutely scared of not getting better. Thor can recall only a couple people who would bring her back to being more open to speaking about such topics of her fears. “I will do what I can to get Loki out, Sigyn, alright?”

Suddenly, as if hearing Loki’s name, Sigyn stuck her hands out and gasped at her empty wrists. “Where is my bracelet?” she asked in a frightened voice. “I was wearing a bracelet - where has it gone? I know I had it when I awoke last.”

“They must have taken it with your clothing,” he attempted to soothe her, seeing how her breathing picked up for a minute. Thor held her face in a brotherly manner, making her change her focus on him instead of her naked wrists. “Worry not, Sigyn. I will get it back to you, as soon as they finish -”

“Thor?”

Looking to the corner wall of the makeshift infirmary in the private lab, Thor found both Erik and Jane standing there with folded clothes in her hands. Eyes darting between him and Sigyn, Jane cleared her throat a bit before stepping further into the area, offering a timid smile to the woman wrapped with a blanket and Thor’s hands holding her face. “I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she mentioned as casually as possible. “I ran into Erik looking for clothes, after I was evaluated and checked-over, and I managed to find something around your size and comfortable to wear. Can I come in?”

“Thor, I must speak to you, as well. Why don’t we give them some privacy,” Erik insisted. Thor noticed something off about the older man, but kept note on Sigyn staring at Jane.

“Of course. Sigyn,” he gestured towards Jane politely, “this is Dr. Jane Foster. She -”

“You were the one who said that it was safe for me to awaken,” Sigyn interrupted, speaking to Jane with an easy voice. Although she was still uncomfortable in an unknown environment, she had no form of tension towards the short haired woman. “I recognize your voice.”

“Yeah, that was me - talking to a rock,” Jane said with a more genuine smile, coming closer with the clothes. Carefully setting them on the edge of the bed, she picked up a dark colored sweater and held it up for her to see. “I know it’s not quite like the clothing you were wearing before - or what you’re probably used to wearing...but I promise that these will be comfortable and keep you warm.”

Thor nodded encouragingly to Sigyn, who reached out to touch the material of the sweater. “I’ll be right around the corner, alright?” he informed her directly. Sigyn nodded once, appearing to be fairly comfortable in Jane’s presence for the time being as she examined the sleeve of the sweater more with both hands. Thor followed Erik out of sight and Jane found it quite amusing at the innocent curiosity over a piece of clothing.

Turning back to the new face, Jane gave her a real smile. “I know it’s nothing fancy, but honestly, anything is better than wearing an exam gown that’s opened on the back.”

“It feels _wonderful_ ,” Sigyn answered, looking to the pair of sweatpants and reaching to see how long the strings were side-by-side. “Thank you so much for going through the trouble of finding someone who is a strange creature to you.”

Jane felt her smile widen. “It’s no problem. Although, I suppose it should make up for me snagging your cloak when you stood up before. I didn’t want you running off or have someone shoot you. I’m sorry if I scared you that way,” Jane professed, feeling at ease at how comfortable Sigyn was. She supposed it had to do with the fact that, even after everything that happened with the lights and guns, she concluded that she believed she was truly in a safe spot. With only a gentle urge, Jane helped Sigyn begin to untie the back of the paper dress.

“It should be _I_ who is to apologize,” Sigyn said, a small, solemn frown emerged on her face as she let Jane help her rotate the sweater before putting it on so the tags weren’t backwards. Pulling the sweater on, she wriggled a bit before being able to pop her head out. “I have caused a lot of trouble, by the looks of your companions. And I am aware that I have rendered your protection useless and drained your... _books_?”

“We call them ‘tablets’. They’re a type of computer that’s portable and can keep notes...” Jane explained until she noticed Sigyn was trying to comprehend what she was saying. “I can show you later, if you want.”

“That will be nice. As if it was not obvious, Midgard is vastly different from the last time I was up and about,” Sigyn said with a overwhelmed sigh. “I am certain a lot of social behaviors and manners have changed as well.”

“Oh, yeah!” With a sudden memory, Jane cleared her throat and nodded. “Just a warning, uh, we don’t smash our cups when we want another drink.”

“Truly?” Sigyn asked, curiously. “See, last time I dined with Midgardians, they did so to show the utmost respect and pleasure to whoever hosts a feast.”

“ _What_?”

Sigyn nodded. “Granted, it was learned from our customs, but it carried on for generations on this specific land. Doing so often lead to a celebration in honor of whoever provided the food and drink. Tell me, what is the proper custom now, to show that you are pleased with one’s sustenance?”

“Well, where I’m from...you usually just leave a tip.”

Out by the center computer, Darcy and Peter were back to running up the projected screens and checking to see whichever data was lost during the time of being shut down by Sigyn. Darcy noted to Peter that she was going to check the vending machines later for their prizes, noting rather smugly that Jane brought out her purse and pushed some cash into her hands before bringing the clothes over. Peter was questioning the legitimacy of the bet, if disrupting the sleeping Asgardian still counts for having the stone being hollow, while Erik brought Thor much further away from the other end of the lab. Thor could tell that Erik was stressed over something, rubbing his palms together and mumbling to himself. He waited patiently for his older friend to speak while keeping an ear open for either Jane or Sigyn to call for him.

It took a few moments of Erik to open his mouth, close it, pace a little more and then finally faced Thor with a cautioned glint in his eye. He spoke low and quietly, as if whispering a secret of sorts, but Thor could hear him perfectly. “Fury had promised me that he wouldn’t have any of our computers wired, but I can’t take the chance,” he told Thor. “I have been informed that the woman from the stone is a long lost friend of yours, correct?”

Thor nodded, not wanting to possibly worry Erik more over the secrecy; he knew his voice was easily loud, even when he would try to whisper.

“I don’t want to make any judgement towards her, but I also overheard Fury interrogating Loki,” Erik continued, eyes darting to the other side of the lab room. “And, while I know your intentions are good, Thor...I fear that there is a connection that might take interest in the wrong people’s ears.”

Thor leaned closer for Erik, letting him know that he was giving him his undivided attention and seriousness of the situation. Just seeing the brief fear in his aged eyes, Thor wanted to bring him some form of comfort over the whole ordeal.

“Your friend’s voice,” Erik said, “is _exactly_ how I remember the Tesseract speaking to me, when I was studying it and when I was under the influence of the Mind Stone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: Throg is an actual Marvel character, and he wields the power of Frogjolnir in different versions of his origin story. This includes Thor being transformed into a frog, a college football star from Earth, and even a frog being transformed when Mjolnir fell into a pond.
> 
> Any comments or feedback is always appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this! You can also find me on Tumblr, if you're interested, under the same name of thepilotanon.


	5. v. veracity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: None

Bruce had asked Sigyn if he could take a small blood sample - in order to compare the bloodstains found on her clothing and on her skin that seem to come from the same source - for his study, trying to find some answers to help her out. At first, Sigyn flinched at the idea and went as far as to use her sweater to turtle herself from him (as she didn’t wish to draw her weapons on a friend of Thor’s), demanding he showed her what types of leeches and knives he planned on using. It took all the mortals within the room a moment to register how far back her medical knowledge is, until Thor corrected them that, in fact, Asgardian medical purposes to draw blood...were monster-looking leeches that would try to swallow your whole limb, if not watched carefully, or using a jagged knife to keep the blood flow from their quick healing. Once Bruce showed her the tiny pricking needle, Sigyn became flustered with embarrassment and begged forgiveness for her foolish behavior. Bruce only offered her a smile and asked, again, if he could take a sample, and she offered her whole arm to him.

After pricking her middle finger, Bruce had her hold a gauze to it, thanking her for her cooperativeness. He left her with Peter sitting next her bed, digging in his backpack for something to pass the time - he took noticed how Sigyn removed the gauze, curiously looking at the spot where Bruce had pricked her. He watched with round eyes as Sigyn swiped her thumb across the puncture, a small blue flame set ablaze for just a second and, just like that, the wound healed. She noticed Peter’s staring, and he nervously cleared his throat and rubbed his nose with his sleeve.

“So, uh...I’ve been wanting to ask you,” he started, “if you can really - I mean, when you did that twisty head and scary-eyes - is that an Asgard thing?”

Sigyn blinked for a moment. “You were the one in the mask, weren’t you? I am sorry for what I had done” she said. “No, Asgardians can not twist their heads or make frightening eyes and teeth like that - not without using seiðr, but it’s only a trick.”

“Still, it scared me and I thought I was going to die,” Peter said, but then raised his hands when her face contorted with worry, “but not literally - it’s a joke! You’d think after spending time with the Avengers, meeting wizards and aliens, I would be used to it by now. But, you know, I just think it’s cool.”

She didn’t verbally respond, but nodded with semi-understanding of what he was attempting to do. Trying to form a casual conversation and to make her feel welcomed in their space (a lab, as they call it) and showing Sigyn that he no longer feared her was a sweet gesture. Watching him going back to dig in his backpack, Sigyn noticed him pulling out a small package. It made a crinkling noise as he ripped the wrapper, revealing some sort of brown, glossed object of the inside that Peter pulled out and held it out to her.

“Here you go!” Peter said with a smile. “From what Thor has mentioned, it’s been a long time since you’ve probably eaten anything and I don’t know when they’ll pick up actual meals from the town nearby. But, thankfully, the vending machines started working again and Darcy got some money from Jane. I bet you’re starving!”

Sigyn took the rectangular thing and inspected it before taking a sniff. It had a peculiar scent, but wasn’t all that unappealing in comparison to its appearance and slight residue that stuck to her fingers. Peter watched her and immediately took another out, unwrapped it and got her attention. “It’s a chocolate bar. I’ll be honest, I only have had Hershey’s and all the others back in America, but Norway have some awesome chocolate!” He breaks off a piece and pops it into his mouth, and Sigyn slowly followed his example by making a reasonable size piece to sample and timidly ate it.

Peter watched her reaction, her brows furrowing confusion before taking another piece and eating it with more gusto. “Good, isn’t it?” he asked and grinned when Sigyn nodded.

“ _It’s delicious_! I can imagine them stuffing pastries and smothering cakes with these!” Sigyn exclaimed with a brightness in her eyes. “Jane was right, a lot of things are different from what I remember Midgard to be - but this is nothing I can recall back home. It’s so different!”

“Wait until you see chocolate cake and a chocolate fountain!”

“So, let me get this straight, and feel free to correct me afterwards,” Fury began with crossed arms, standing around with Thor, Jane, Erik and Bruce outside of Loki’s locked room/cell that was still being monitored and guarded. “From what you’ve all collected, the bloodstains on her clothes is _her_ blood, meaning that she must have obtained injuries prior to being stuck in the stone; clothes have evidence of stab wounds, but has no type of scarring when you brought her in. And _you_ ,” Fury said, pointing to Bruce, “assume it might have something to with the stone - that we still don’t know its origins - but _you_ ,” he pointed to Jane, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes, “say that there’s no fragments or evidence of the stone ever being there...and we can’t connect anything properly because _you_ ,” Fury hissed while pointing to Thor, “tell me that she doesn’t _remember anything_ that happened that got her in the rock in the first place!”

Bruce tapped on his tablet, somewhat nervous by Fury’s tone. “Well, from what Thor has said, and what I have taken notice when I checked her over, she could have developed amnesia from either the stone, or from the trauma of being attacked,” he explained. “I theorize that the stone may have been some sort of healing-slash-protection shield; given that it was radiating its own aurora borealis into space as a sort of S.O.S., and she has no scars - not to mention that the amount of blood and damage on her clothing was _a lot_ and pretty brutal.”

“I thought you guys were Gods or whatever. _Indestructible_ and all that good stuff,” Fury gestured to Thor, who shrugged and rolled up his sleeves.

Showing a fairly faint scar on his forearm and pointing to the skin around his brown eye, Thor rubbed lightly until the scarring revealed itself from the friction, he shrugged. “Of course, but _everyone_ is capable of carrying around remains of drastic wounds. Although, Asgardians with scarring will eventually disappear in a couple thousand years, give or take, it can still be visible. Not to mention Loki’s plentiful tales of faking his own death… We’re sturdy, yes, but not invincible.”

“And it’s been less than eight-hundred for Sigyn, judging by her clothing style matching to late-Viking era,” Bruce added in. “And I have seen firsthand how Asgardians heal over stab wounds. Sigyn had absolutely nothing to show that she even had a scratch, even from a long time ago.”

Fury looked annoyed and stressed, but it was to be expected in general. “So, what do you expect me to do about it? Our prime suspect and apparent-victim doesn’t remember _anything_ , so you say, and there’s no leads to answering any questions in regards to the Infinity Stones and your Sleeping Beauty. All I have is a bunch of twisted guns, busted down doors and bunch of freaked out agents wondering if we’re going to have another invasion.”

“While I apologize about the doors, I do have a suggestion,” Thor offered. 

“I _swear_ to God, if you say your brother -”

“My brother has taken some practice in healing magic,” he kept going, willing to ignore Fury’s glare. “And, given that she is a dear old friend of ours, perhaps Loki can help her stay calm long enough for her to remember something that can help.”

“And what makes you think Loki would be _willing_ to help us out? From my little interview with your baby brother, it seems like he and our little friend were pretty damn close. What’s to say that he won’t conspire _her_ against _us_ and join in invading Earth and try to enslave us all?” Fury asked incredulously. 

“That’s impossible,” Thor scoffed. “Believe what you will, but Sigyn _loves_ Midgard and peace within your planet. She would argue for your independence. I’m sure, once she eventually finds out what Loki had done under Thanos’ manipulation, she would want to rip that monster apart...after giving Loki a piece of her mind to let a madman manipulate him.”

Seeing that Fury wasn’t being swayed, Thor sighed. “Sigyn would join my family with hers in visiting Midgard, back in your ancient times, and she would join my mother in tending to the children, the common folk, the elderly… She rarely participated in battles that we involved ourselves in with your history, instead would _protect_ those who were never able to. She thought your kind to be capable of wonderful things, could evolve and grow stronger, but _hated_ unnecessary bloodshed.

“Not to mention she’s mighty stubborn and far independent than most gentle maidens when around dashing princes,” he added rather fondly. “I recall the last time Loki attempt to trick a Midgardian, an old farmer, and Sigyn dragged him all the way back through the Bifrost and withheld any attention from him. Nearly drove him insane to the point he begged on his hands and knees for her forgiveness to at least acknowledge his existence.”

“But that doesn’t tell us that Loki would cooperate with us _willingly_ ,” Jane said, crossing her arms, finally done with her tablet.

“If it is to help Sigyn, you do not need to ask him twice,” Thor defended, frowning a bit while glancing once to Jane and then straightening himself. “You would be surprised what some people can do to try and help those they care for. No matter how much time has passed, you would still want to make sure that everything is alright with them, even just friendly, whether five years had passed, or a few hundred. Loki is a better man than who he was before, I assure you.”

“What if she doesn’t exactly want him around? Maybe she’s trying to move on and doesn’t want to give him unnecessary hope about their relationship, if she were to contact him?” Jane went on, clearly irritated by what Thor was implying - whether he meant it, or not - staring down at the notes in her hands.

Genuinely confused, Thor turned to Jane with a puzzled frown. “What are you trying to say?”

“Maybe she still has things to figure out for herself, did Loki ever think about that?” she grumbled. “And, y’know, suddenly he’s there and you can’t do anything about it, but pretend everything is fine and -”

“Jane?” With a poke to her shoulder, Thor drew her out of her train of thought and see that everyone’s attention was on her.

Blushing, Jane faked a cough and looked to Fury directly. “Might as well give it a shot. It’s not like Loki really has anywhere to run, if you keep the cuffs on him,” she said. “And Thor...won’t let anything else happen around here, anyway. If Loki can heal her memory, it’s the best shot we have to answer any questions we have right now.”

Fury still held on, but Jane and everyone else could see that it was starting to crumble a bit. “And, you know that he can _easily_ break Loki out of there, if you continue to withhold him. Remember, Loki is still an official citizen of New Asgard and has some diplomatic limits - as well as Sigyn,” Jane added casually before turning around and stalking away without another word. The men watched her leave before slowly turning their attention back to Fury, who released a slow, deep exhale.

“He keeps the cuffs on,” Fury pointed directly at Thor. “Any funny business, and he’s back in the box until it’s time for you to take him back to your King, got it?”

Once Fury went to go retrieve the keys for Loki’s chains (mumbling about how “for something so high-tech and nearly indestructible, they use old as hell keys?”), Thor then turned to Erik. “Erik, I know I can trust that you will be honest with me, whether it would be hurtful or not, I must ask if I have done something to insult Jane,” he confessed. “If I have done something that I was not aware, or if my mere presence is such a inconvenience or truly harms Jane’s wellbeing, I would like to know and see if I can make right of it.”

Erik sighed and shook his head. “That’s not really my place to say. We’ve been telling Jane to work through it and we would be here for support, but she’s just throwing herself into working. Best just to leave her be and wait until she’s ready to talk,” Erik advised thoughtfully. “I know you don’t mean ill towards Jane, but try to deflect from bringing it up until then.”

Thor nodded and Bruce reached to pat his back just in time for Fury to come back the key: a large, old-looking key that weighed more than necessary, but an intricate design carved throughout the whole thing. Erik left to go find Jane, and Bruce mumbled about how he was going to check on Darcy and Peter, who were still with Sigyn back in the lab. Waving for Thor to follow him, Fury let the armed soldiers unlock the multiple, high-tech sealments on the outside before the door slid open.

Inside the cell, Loki was where exactly Fury had left him. He looked more bored than irritated and desperate to leave, however, once seeing Thor being guided in by Fury and the brief glimpse of the key, a smirk grew on his face.

“Hello, Brother,” Loki greeted rather smugly.

Fury pointed the key at Loki’s face, getting between them. “Don’t even think for a minute that you’re being allowed free reign, you weasel,” he said. “You’re keeping the cuffs on and keeping surveillance on your ass whenever you’re out of the lab. You’re needed to help out figure some things in this chaotic web - I’m sure your expertise will be handy for something useful, for once, since your old lady friend isn’t helping much.”

Hearing that, Loki immediately frowned and leaned as much as the chains allowed to look at his brother. Thor raised a hand to make him keep his cool. “Do not worry, Loki. Sigyn is all safe and healthy as can be,” he ensured. “However, it seems that Sigyn is dealing with some memory loss of what led her to being trapped within the stone. I have mentioned that you’ve dabbled a bit with some healing seiðr.”

Loki didn’t open his mouth to correct his Thor that, while he has had some skill in healing, he wasn’t the best, but the look on Thor’s face (that was blatantly _obvious_ from Fury’s back) told him that it was part of getting him out of the cell. When Fury seem to sense Thor doing something behind him, he twisted around to see Thor going back to playing it cool and patient while undoing the many chains. Loki held his composure accordingly, not arguing that the cuffs were still on as he gracefully stood to his feet and allowed Fury to push him his brother’s way. Thor willingly took Loki by the shoulder and guided him out of the cell and towards the lab Bruce and Erik have reign over, all while Fury watched them leave and whispered to a passing agent under his breath.

Once out of earshot, Loki let out a breath and whispered, “Thank you, Brother. I believe I owe you a favor, within reason,” he told his brother, who gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“Thank me when we actually get to leave,” Thor responded. “And, you can thank me by allowing me to bring you more Earth snacks to try and not complain about it right away.”

A growl was swallowed back down Loki’s throat, not wanting to draw any attention to himself as he was guided through the factory. Approaching Bruce and Erik’s lab, Loki noticed how the pristine door was no more than a crumbled piece of metal. Looking to Thor, Loki raised a brow and waited until the blond Asgardian connected the dots and cleared his throat.

“Don’t even. That was caused because you snuck out of the lab in the first place,” Thor mumbled. "I was locked in from the power outage and could not think of another way to get it open."

Getting inside the lab, Thor and Loki were surprised to find Sigyn up and about the lab with Peter and Darcy, who were sharing different types of candy bars and snack goods from the vending machines. Darcy was at one of the whiteboard, writing down lists of “Likes” and “Dislikes” of the different candies they’re having her try, and Peter was explaining each of the candy with an animated tone to the curious Asgardian woman. Loki looked to see Bruce standing on the side, catching his gaze and shrugging at the unusual sight before them. Once Sigyn noticed the two new arrivals, a bright smile grew on her face as she politely excused herself, setting the candy down to the side and wipe her mouth with a napkin. She was quick on her feet, with her energy restored, to the two with a bright smile.

“ _Loki_!” she exclaimed in relief, jumping to wrap her arms around his neck. Loki stumbled a bit, suddenly remembering his restraints keeping him from returning the embrace, but managed to keep his balance with her hanging on him for a long moment. “Where have you been? Thor told me you were dealing with causing trouble, but Peter mentioned something about an indestructible box,” she began rambling, pulling back and suddenly seeing the familiar Asgardian handcuffs. Sigyn took hold of his hands - which he willingly allowed, despite Peter gasping at how she could touch Loki so easily - to get a better look. “What is _this_? Are you in trouble back home now?”

“No, of course not,” Loki responded cooly, which made her eyes dart up to study his face. “This is more for bringing the mortals comfort with my presence. I will admit my fault for disobeying orders, but...you know how I feel about being ordered around by those beneath me.”

Sigyn released a short sigh, and Loki squeezed her hands back for additional comfort. “I see that hasn’t changed. Unlike your hair,” she gestured to his dark strands dropping past his shoulders, “and Thor’s appearance. So much else has changed from what I remember - time is starting to creep to me the more time I spend here. Especially with the food! Loki, have you tried Midgard chocolate? It is amazing!”

“Yes, it is one of the few things I’ve had from Midgard that I actually like,” Loki nodded, squeezing her hands gently once more to keep her focused. “Sigyn, dearest, I was informed that you do not remember the events falling to when you were within the stone.”

Sigyn’s brows furrowed a bit, but nods, a bit timid. “Yes, that is true.”

“We’re hoping Loki here can attempt to help you remember some of the pieces we’re missing for your story,” Bruce explained, gently stepping in. “Maybe help you ask certain questions to get your mind open, or his magic can help you remember details or clues to have things start to make sense. Would you be comfortable allowing Loki helping out that way?”

“Of course,” Sigyn said with a nod, as if it was ridiculous to ask of her trust in Loki. “However, I am unsure how much assistance Loki’s seiðr will be; I do not recall us ever learning about breaking and restoring memory loss…”

“It’s worth a shot,” Bruce said with an encouraging smile, careful to usher his patient over to one of the chairs by the center computer. He called for Peter to find his analyzing scanner that would keep track of her vitals and body temperature for extra measure. “You don’t mind if I scan you? It won’t hurt you in any way, I just want to study and keep track of your health for safety measures.”

“You may do whatever you feel is best,” she approved, taking a seat while Peter brought the scanner device and a chair for Loki to sit on across from her. Sigyn looked more interested than worried at the sight of the device rather than concerned in the slightest.

Loki raised his hands to gently hold her face, only to realize how his shackles may cause a problem or two. Despite that, he didn’t want to cause the S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. people any more problems and risk stressing her out. Sighing, he gave her an apologetic half-smile. “You’ll forgive me, if these wretched things bump into you, won’t you? It should not distract you from concentrating...” he asked her gently.

To him, her smile lit up the whole lab. Sigyn held on to his forearms for support and helped him guide his hands to cradle her face in his palms. Despite still needing to have a proper shower and probably comb her hair more thoroughly, he thought he was touching those rare Asgardian flower petals that he remembered Frigga showing him and letting him play with when she was pressing them in her journals. The warmth of Sigyn’s skin brought back pleasant memories of the two of them, and he could tell that she felt the same for a moment by how she sighed softly and tightened her grip on his arms for a moment. Being aware of the eyes on them, they were both in sync to pull themselves back to the task at hand.

At least Loki knew he wasn’t the only one feeling the relief of the other’s touch.

“I cannot dig deep into her memories for my own view,” Loki explained to the group, gently urging Sigyn to close her eyes with a gentle brush of his thumb on her cheek. “However, so long as I am allowed to look into her thoughts, I can see if there are any openings that could lead to a hidden memory to be unlocked. I do not believe it will fix the condition, but it will allow me to see something.”

Bruce quietly asked Peter and Darcy to take down notes of what could happen. Even with the young intern readying a camera from his laptop to record the whole thing, Peter still took out a pad of paper and pen while Darcy did the same. They gave the two space with Thor the closest with Bruce a few feet away with the scanner projecting a neon green light to graph a layout on Sigyn and Loki. Loki took it as a signal to begin, keeping focus on Sigyn’s face; his fingertips glowing a faint glittering gold against her skin, and he could see various empty looking glass within her subconscious.

He was a bit taken aback by how willing Sigyn was to let him into her mind, after being so long apart, but he forced himself to keep focus as he brought up the first question. “Tell me what you last remember prior to waking from the stone,” Loki suggested to Sigyn first, watching how her brows furrowed and feeling how the muscles of her mouth move as she tried to think.

Slowly, within the closest looking glass at his side, a visual of a village from a long time past emerged; longhouses and huts, some fenced structures to keep in cattle and sheep while they grazed whatever they could with the upcoming winter. There were children helping their older siblings out with chores or tagging along, singing loudly while the adults kept to themselves in their little clusters. Tall piles meant for the bonfires later at night were placed safely away from the flammable houses and barns - and Loki can vaguely recall how truly hot the fires would get once lit, and how the village would pile their benches with food to celebrate the arrival of the Asgardians. Snow was piled and pushed out of the pathways, with some children playing on them with the dogs and there was only peace and happiness in the everyday life of an old Midgard village.

“It was winter, and the village was standing,” Sigyn said, a bit distracted while trying to remember. “The weather was clear in the day, I remember that clearly. But then…”

From the other side of Loki, the glass began to glow a shade of blue, but the pressure emitting from the frame towards him felt heavy and tight; similar to a pounding headache. Nothing but the sound of a dull heartbeat and slow, deep breathing could be heard and Loki could only press just the littlest bit before it became too overwhelming for him to handle.

Feeling Sigyn’s jaw tighten, Loki urged her to relax by trying to transfer his comfort by holding the outside frame of the small mirror containing the inside of the stone with both hands. He didn’t push, didn’t apply any more pressure...just letting her remember that she was no longer stuck inside the stone anymore. She was no longer _alone_.

“But then, it was as if I was trapped in a trance,” she continued. “I remember running, and feeling my chest burn. I felt as if I had to rest, but I was not exhausted from anything that I can recall. I had no choice, so I stayed in place. Between seeing the village go about their day, to that...there is _nothing_.”

“Can you remember how you were feeling prior to?” Loki asked, searching for any crack or sliver of whatever was missing in between the windows.

“I felt normal...then, needing to rest and being unable to move. It was almost waking from a very real dream, but into another at the same time.”

“But you were also with your mother,” Thor chipped in carefully. “What do you remember of your mother that day?”

Within the first glass, Loki watched in Sigyn’s point of view moving about the village; the children running up with the dogs to greet her with bright smiles, tugging on the familiar skirt he recalls finding her in for her attention. “I was searching for her,” she answered. “It was common for me to look for Mother, while in the village, from teaching them how to fight and wield properly at the outskirts.”

“Did you find her?” Thor pressed, causing a strong pressure within Sigyn’s thoughts.

“ _I do not remember_.” Her hands holding on to Loki’s forearms began to tighten its grip as the looking glass surrounding him rattled against nothing. Loki could see how hard she was trying to find the image of her mother within her memory, but there was nothing that he could see to give a glimpse of it. 

Loki opened his eyes and looked to Thor and Bruce, shaking his head in caution and concern. Taking a breath, Loki focused once more and entered her subconscious. “Never mind that now, dearest,” he whispered to her. “Don’t pressure yourself. It’s alright.”

“We can ask you something different now, okay?” Bruce suggested. “Do you recall using a type of spell that mimics aurora borealis? It’s like colors of lights that move in the night sky on our planet.”

Sigyn nodded as best as she could without leaving Loki’s touch. “A distress incantation. Whenever I felt ‘awake’, I remember attempting it within my mind, but I never knew if it would work,” she explained quietly. “I do not believe I was fully conscious, nor aware of when I would try.”

“Were you trying to reach Asgard?”

“Yes. I recall the spell being specific to Queen Frigga and whoever was taught could sense it, if it was strong enough.”

Bruce nodded, keeping track of his scanner. “Do you think you may have used a spell that led you to you being trapped in the stone?”

Loki watched various parchments, books, past lessons fly by the glass, scanning and searching for anything in regards of protection or shield-like spells. Most he recognized as well. Various languages and symbols that they practiced and copied since they were young and learning, he had no doubt Sigyn’s practice to memorize everything she would learn and read carefully down to the last detail of its effects. He too, while properly keeping his hands to himself as to not distract Sigyn within her thought process, looked over the details…

Sigyn eventually answered, with a rather tired tone, “No, I do not remember anything that could have placed me there.”

“Do you remember anything called the Tesseract or of an object called the Scepter?” Thor suddenly blurted, catching both Sigyn and Loki off guard by how insistent his tone was. Breaking the sync, Loki’s eyes snapped to his brother with a questioning glare, who was too busy keeping his eyes on Sigyn.

Noticing the break of Loki looking within her mind, Sigyn opened her eyes to see what was going on between the two. “I remember your father telling us stories of the Tesseract, when he was helping rebuild fallen planets after wars,” she recalled vaguely, keeping hold of Loki’s arms as she lifted her face out of his palms to look at Thor properly. “I do not remember anything strictly called the Scepter. Is that something that should be relevant, Thor?”

“No,” he answered hurriedly, seeing how Loki and Bruce were giving him hard stares. Unfolding his arms, he cleared his throat and attempted to play it off. “I think that’s enough for now. Don’t want to overwhelm you when you’ve only just started to recover. Bruce, Loki, I need a word with you both privately.”

* * *

“How would that even be possible? I never used anything within Sigyn’s likeness when I was bestowed of the Scepter,” Loki hissed from his corner of the lab, his fists tightening within their restraints. Oh, how he wished he could cross his arms or, better yet, punch Thor for suggesting such a thing. “Even if it was done unconsciously, while I was within control of that Mad Titan, that does not prove anything in relation to the current predicament we’re in.”

“Even so, Erik confessed to me in private that he _dreamt_ of the Tesseract speaking to him, while he was studying it prior to your attempted invasion; at least months, if not years, prior to,” Thor added, keeping his voice hushed while he and Bruce used their wide frames to keep anyone else to snooping in. “You’ve mentioned you were keeping tabs on Erik then, too. Could there be any way you could have influenced him with her voice?”

“ _No_ ,” Loki responded firmly, and Thor knew he was telling the truth.

Bruce hummed thoughtfully and picked at a strand of string from his sweater. “This does raise some additional questions, though,” he said. “From the scanning, nothing showed of any manipulation or struggle from Sigyn’s energy readings or Loki's magic. Everything she’s told us and whatever she had shown Loki was completely truthful from her and her only… It’s all really a labyrinth of mystery at this point, and nothing is really adding up or supporting each other.”

The three were quiet for a moment, deep in thought of whatever could try to rectify their frustrating confusion. Loki eventually took a slow breath. “I have an idea,” he said. “One that may be better suited for the rest of us, and perhaps get Nick Fury to take a step back from interfering.”

When both Thor and Bruce gave him his full attention, he flourished his hands as best as he could. “We bring her to Eir. Eir was the best physician in Asgard, and Mother had her teach us minimal healing spells and incantations. She still practices her medicines and techniques at her own infirmary. I believe, if anyone can assist Sigyn with her condition, it’s her.

“Especially with Sigyn being a past patient of hers, I am certain that someone who is more familiar with healing seiðr and Sigyn’s mind and body would find more than I,” he continued. “While I am only able to see the surface of her memories, Eir would be capable of going far more in that can answer some questions...as well as her amnesia, whether it may be caused by an unknown injury, trauma or what have you.”

“You guys have an actual Asgardian physician?” Bruce huffed incredulously. “Then what are we doing here? Lets call her in!”

“That’s the thing that makes it a Loki suggestion,” Thor stopped him from getting worked up right away. “Lady Eir remains in New Asgard, and is nowhere interested in leaving her establishment.”

“Then,” Bruce sighed in relief, “let’s get her to New Asgard.”

Thor glanced towards his friend. “You’re forgetting...”

Bruce sighed again, but more in irritation. “And, after what’s been going on so far, I don’t think S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. are ready to let her out of their radar anytime soon.”

“Not unless…”

Loki immediately recognized the look on Thor’s face, making him raise a brow. “Unless...what, Brother?”

“I know I did it unintentionally, but maybe Jane could convince Fury to allow us to leave,” Thor suggested quietly, but shrugged. “I somehow got her to make Fury release you from the cell, even if I did not meant to do it on purpose: if we can have Jane convince Fury that Sigyn is truly better off to return with us to New Asgard, that would be the easiest and safest route to go for everyone.”

“Do you think that can work a second time?” Bruce asked.

Thor shrugged and rubbed his beard. “It could, but the only thing is that I do not wish to be more of a burden and stressing Jane out more than I have being here,” he confessed quietly. “Perhaps, Bruce, if you could bring up how you think it would be beneficial for Sigyn, along with yours and Erik’s and her studies for a change in environment…”

“A subject in a more familiar place have been proven to produce more data to collect,” he considered openly. “Not to mention that Sigyn would be reunited with her family and other loved ones, like she has with you two. She mentioned a few times about her mother; I’m sure she would benefit greatly being reunited with her, after being gone for so long.”

Before Loki could say anything, he noticed through the small gap between Loki’s shoulder and Bruce’s arm Darcy holding a familiar package in her hands. Watching her chat to Sigyn brightly about her next treat she was going to sample, and Loki stiffened. “Excuse me, please,” he said as he wedged himself through them and hurried over to the trio by the whiteboard. “Darcy, Peter, _please_ do not let her eat without something to drink to wash down _that Pop-tart_!”

Leaving Thor and Bruce to conclude in proceeding with the plan to talk to Jane, the two stepped out of the lab in search of the astrophysicist, only to see her not even in the mass of people working about with an all-too-familiar face in Thor’s eyes. Wearing all dark colors, a leather jacket and her long hair pulled back in a ponytail, Lady Sif was speaking to both Jane and Erik in hushed voices. Erik was being the most quiet while Jane was talking with a smile on her face to the Asgardian woman. Seeing his old friend, Thor, too, broke into a grin when Sif caught eyes with him. Sif’s face brightened as Thor approached with Bruce in tow, cutting off their conversation.

“ _Lady Sif_!” Thor greeted with open arms and with a respectable volume of his voice. “It’s been ages since we last saw one another. I would not have expected you to be here!”

“I came as fast as I could with the use of airplanes,” said Sif with a tight hug in return. “I was struggling for the longest time in the land of Australia with my cellular device, but as soon as Jane contacted me with the images of an encased person in a mysterious mineral, I rushed as quickly as I could to assist.”

“Jane did?” Thor questioned, looking to the said woman who gnawed on her bottom lip and looked down to her hands.

Pulling back, Sif caught his attention with a fond smile. “Ever since I’ve found refuge on Midgard years back, before the Blip, I have been one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s go-to person for any off-planet cases. I have some - how is it said, Jane? - _leeway_ on security and control of whatever may be regarded as Asgardian property. When I saw the clothing wearing the royal insignia, I knew that it was one of our own and would probably need a fellow Asgard in their defense. Along with being an assistant to Jane in any way to our people’s history with Midgard.”

“I see.” Without a second thought, Thor broke into a grin and held Sif by the shoulders. “My dear friend, it is _great news_ that you are here. In fact, I believe this should be a memorable day for all of us.”

“Yes, I agree. Jane was just telling me how the person within the stone was freed from it, and that they are healthy,” Sif said, reaching to rest a gentle hand on Jane’s arm. Thor vaguely noticed Jane acting flustered, but didn’t dare to push himself in her personal space. “However, I was only brought up to the stone breaking and that the person is alive. Since you are here, Thor, do you recognize who it is?”

Thor felt his excitement bubble more as his grin grew to near blinding, making Sif laugh. “From the look on your face, I shall assume it is someone we both know. Who is it?”

“I think it would be better for you to see for yourself,” Thor explained, gesturing with his hands for Sif to follow him and excusing himself when he bumped into Bruce in the process. Gently urging Sif to walk ahead, with him as a guide back to the lab, Thor was nearly bouncing on his toes. “This is actually wonderful. By Norns are we blessed; I had no way of contacting you to tell you, but it was a blessing that Jane thought to contact you. How did she know how to reach you so quickly, Sif?”

The Asgardian woman blinked in confusion and glanced to the side where Jane was following in between Bruce and Erik. “Jane, have you not told him?” she asked with raised brows.

This caught Thor’s curiosity and confusion. While still taking massive steps to hurry Sif to the lab, Thor looked between the two women. “Tell me what?”

“That Jane and I had -” Sif was about to answer Thor, until she was unintentionally pushed to collide with another rather hard, right at the threshold of the lab. Thor jumped and helped Sif give space to whoever they ran into, knowing that human balance versus an Asgardian strength is rather disastrous.

It was Loki, still in his cuffs, with Peter right behind him with money in his hand. Loki was not affected by being pushed, shielding Peter from getting hit, but he blinked in surprise when he realized who he bumped into. Seeing Sif’s blank face, Loki exhaled in relief and offered her a polite smile and nod of his head, given his hands are still restrained.

“I apologize about that, Sif,” Loki started in a cool tone, “this is truly a surprise -”

Without any hesitation, Sif grabbed Loki by the lapels of his suit and threw him across the factory, causing scientists to scream in surprise when he lands on the set up table that held computers and other equipment. The sturdy furniture crumbled from the impact of Loki’s body, wood, glass and other shattered material flew everywhere as agents and soldiers readied themselves. Thor instinctively shield Jane and Erik from Sif’s way as she jumped over the railing and trailed after where she threw Loki, withdrawing her familiar sword from its hilt strapped to her back underneath her leather coat. Bruce held each of Jane and Erik’s shoulder from behind them, allowing Thor to chase after Sif.

Groaning, Loki struggled to get himself to sit up in the rubble with his hands restrained. Suddenly, he felt a pressure of a foot against his throat as Sif applied weight to it with her sword gripped tightly in her hand. He struggled for a moment, then realized how armed mortals surrounded them with guns raised, he went still to reduce the panic as much as possible and to avoid aggravating Sif more.

“ _Sif_ ,” Loki spoke up against the feeling of weight being forcefully pressed to his throat. “Sif, I am unarmed and restrained -”

“I have counted the days when I would finally be able to strike you,” Sif hissed through her teeth. “After all you had done to me: playing me and the people of Asgard foolish by playing King Odin’s face, have me chase Lorelei and bring her back under such guise, and then _banish me from my home_ -!”

“Sif! Put down your sword!” Thor demanded while Nick Fury approached to his side right behind Sif. “Loki is no threat to you!”

“He will be no threat to anyone, once I am done with him!” she declared strongly. “How I plan to rid him of his hands and sew his mouth shut, so he may never utter another spell to trick anyone ever again!”

“While that sounds like a wonderful idea,” Fury casually slid in, “I would have to ask you kindly not to. And I’m not dismissing you, Sif, I’d _love_ to see it happen to the weasel! But, like Thor has said, he’s no threat and, if I may point out...he’s not the one throwing people around fragile equipment and holding a fancy sword.”

Sif chose to ignore them both and raises her sword…

For her to nearly fall backward at the sudden weight that seemed to occur with her weapon, causing her to step off Loki’s neck to catch her balance. Thor managed to grab Fury and hurry back a few feet, just in time for Sif to lose her stance. The point of the sword falling to the cemented floor, everyone jumped at the impact damage it created - as a heavy impression of a crater shook the whole building, Sif twisted around to hold the hilt of her sword with both hands. With great effort, Sif struggled to lift her sword back up, giving some agents the chance to approach Loki’s sprawled body and heave him out of the pile and actually helped him sit up. It reminded some of Thor’s old hammer, when no one else could lift it, and watched Sif swear under her breath and struggle for control of her weapon.

“ _What is happening out here_?”

Heads turned and all attention went to Sigyn back at the doorway of the lab, standing in her baggy clothing and with Peter and Darcy at either side of her. Her hand outstretched, a faint blue glow from her fingertips aimed towards Sif, who froze when she locked sights on the other Asgardian woman. Sif dropped her weapon completely, ignoring how her sword slammed on the ground and nearly tripped stepping over it as she took a cautious step towards where she was guided prior to attacking Loki.

Sigyn’s eyes were filled with tears as she watched Sif, her outstretched hand trembling as she broke off the weight-spell. Still barefoot, Sigyn stepped towards the short stairs that led to the lowered level of the mess Sif caused.

“Sif?” she asked with caution, almost as if she wasn’t quite sure.

“ _By the Gods and Motherly Norns_ ,” Sif gasped as she broke into a sprint, which Sigyn let out a croaked gasped and jumped down the steps. The warrior maiden easily caught Sigyn when she jumped out to her open arms, holding her tight and immediately crying into her hair. “This can not be real, can it? Tell me this is a dream!”

“This is no dream! This is real!” Sigyn cried, burying her face into Sif’s shoulder, clutching her leather jacket with desperation.

Sif’s hand cradled Sigyn’s head, rocking them both as she kissed her hair through her tears and whimpers. “I thought you _dead_ ,” she sobbed, uncaring of the many witnesses and the situation. “All these years, I have mourned and dreamt of having you for just a _moment more_ to tell you all I could not before.”

“ _I am here_ ,” Sigyn chanted, muffled against Sif’s shoulder and tried to bury herself further against her. “I am here, Sister. I am no dream!”

While helping Loki to his feet with Fury standing by, Thor decided to ignore the director’s reaction upon hearing the two Asgardian women. “Hold on, did she just call her ‘ _sister_ ’?”

Huffing, Loki nodded a thanks to Thor helping him dust off broken glass and other debris pieces from his clothes. He felt a bit irritated about the evident tear on his coat, but gestured with his restrained hands to the two woman. “Nick Fury, you are in the presence of Asgard’s highly regarded warrior maiden, Lady Sif Skaðidottir, and her younger half-sister, the highly respected apprentice of Queen Frigga of Asgard, Lady Sigyn Skaðidottir.”

Feeling a bit smug, Loki leaned towards Fury and spoke with a smirk on his face. “As I have mentioned during our earlier conversation, I do believe a thank-you is in order,” he said, making Fury snap back towards the dark haired prince. “I did say that you should be thankful that it was Sigyn, and not anyone else from her family to aim your weapons first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: In the Marvel comics, Sif is Heimdall's sister and had concept art for the movies of following the siblings' relation - however it was scrapped in the MCU due to casting. You can find some of Sif's older/original concepts to the first Thor movie online!
> 
> Any comments or feedback is always appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this! You can also find me on Tumblr, if you're interested, under the same name of thepilotanon


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